Department of Social Welfare and Development Secretary Rex Gatchalian (File photo)
MANILA – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is ready to assist Filipino migrant workers who will be repatriated from Israel and Palestine due to the heightened conflict between the Israeli government and Islamist Hamas militants.
DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian made the assurance on Friday following his directive to the department’s Operations Group led by Undersecretary Pinky Romualdez to coordinate with the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) for the details of the Filipino workers who wanted to be repatriated from the conflict-torn southern Israel.
“Call Undersecretary Hans Cacdac of DMW and get the list of potential repatriated Pinoys from Israel. Then we prepare their AICS (Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation) and SLP (Sustainable Livelihood Program),” Gatchalian told the Operations Group.
The AICS is one of the social welfare services of the DSWD that provides medical assistance, burial, transportation, education, food, or financial aid for other support services or needs of a person or family.
The maximum cash assistance given under AICS is PHP10,000 while the maximum educational assistance is PHP5,000 for students in elementary and high school, and PHP10,000 for students in senior high school, college and vocational courses.
A maximum of three students per household can avail of the educational assistance.
The SLP, on the other hand, is a capability-building program of the DSWD that provides access to opportunities that increase the productivity of the livelihood assets of the poor, vulnerable and marginalized communities to improve their socioeconomic well-being.
For the SLP, the maximum cash assistance is PHP15,000.
Romualdez said the agency is now preparing the assistance for eight migrant workers who have opted for voluntary repatriation and are scheduled to arrive at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) anytime next week.
She has also informed Gatchalian that personnel from the DSWD Field Office 1 (Ilocos Region) have contacted Erlinda Aguirre, mother of the Filipina nurse Angelyn, in her home in Binmaley, Pangasinan on Thursday.
Aguirre’s family was also provided food subsidy to help augment their travel needs to Manila to pick up the cadaver of Angelyn, according to Romualdez.
Once the remains of Angelyn arrive in Pangasinan, the DSWD will provide burial assistance under AICS.
Social workers from FO-1 will also continue to provide the appropriate psychosocial interventions, including counseling and stress debriefing.
On Wednesday, the DSWD Field Office 3 (Central Luzon) condoled and formally extended assistance to the family of Paul Vincent Castelvi, the other Filipino casualty in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.
There are some 30,000 Filipinos in Israel, and 137 others live in the Gaza strip, where the militant Hamas launched their attacks. (PNA)
