By: Arvin N. Obnasca

QUEZON CITY, PHILIPPINES – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) thru its Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) signed memoranda of understanding (MoU) with four SLP partners on 24 January at the DSWD Central Office.

The various partnership efforts aim at developing, establishing, and implementing financial inclusion strategies and projects for SLP participants leading to the improvement of quality of life and well-being; promoting inclusive entrepreneurship by creating a pilot livelihood project model for qualified persons with disabilities; and providing market linkage and more advantageous network through the concepts and principles of social marketing, e-commerce, and other technology-aided methodologies.

Present at the MoU signing were Secretary Rolando Joselito D.  Bautista, DSWD Secretary; Asec. Rhea B. Peñaflor, Assistant Secretary for Specialized Programs; Restituto B. Macuto, SLP National Program Manager; Emmanuel G. Herbosa, Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) President and CEO; Marcial Salvatierra, Foundation for These-Abled Persons Inc. (FTI) Chairman; Judith R. Azarcon, RAF International Forwarding Phils. Inc. President; Carlos Miguel S. Concio, Resellee Mobile Innovations Solutions, Inc. Chairman and CEO; and some members of the DSWD Executive Committee and Management Committee.

In his message, Sec. Bautista highlighted the importance of building partnership to fully support and facilitate the positive changes in the participants’ livelihood development efforts. He likewise shared the good news of DSWD being recognized by Pulse Asia as one of the top performing government agencies, according to the report by Pulse Asia.

As the DSWD’s lead strategy in building capabilities and bridging livelihood opportunities to its target communities and individuals, the SLP has been on a persistent endeavor to further strengthen its network of support and relevant interventions in the context of livelihood development.