CARAGA – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) – Caraga and the City Government of Bislig signed the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on the pilot testing of the Sustaining Interventions on Poverty Alleviation and Governance (SIPAG) Project at the Grand Palace Hotel, Butuan City on February 28.
The SIPAG Project is the agency’s venture to automate the social case management process and to speed up the provision of services through the use of the electronic-Social Case Management System (e-SCMS). The project was created to upgrade the delivery of social welfare and development services of the LGU social workers.
Social Technology Bureau (STB) Social Welfare Officer Jelie B. Barceta pointed out that with the magnitude of clients being handled by the LGU social workers every day, there is a need for such project because manual case management transactions can be tedious and time-consuming.
“Kaya po kami ang Social Technology Bureau nakaisip, ‘Paano ba natin mapapabilis ‘to?’ Kasi ang laging clamor, ang bagal ng case management process. Kaya kailangan din natin magbago ng sistema kung paano ba natin mapapadali (We in the Social Technology Bureau thought, ‘How can we expedite the process?’ There is always a clamor that case management process is too slow. This is why we need to enhance the system and speed up the process),” Barceta added.
Bislig City, under the leadership of Mayor Librado C. Navarro, is known for being one of the most active and supportive partner-LGU of the DSWD. Hence, they were identified as the pilot area for SIPAG as they have met the criteria required by the said project.
City Social Welfare and Development Office Head Leticia M. Yu admitted that the project was challenging most especially that the system requires a stable internet connection. Nevertheless, the LGU, headed by City Mayor Navarro, wholeheartedly accepted the project as the government of Bislig shares the same vision with the DSWD of serving the people and delivering quality services.
Yu added, “We will try our best na makapag-deliver pa ng mas maayos na service at mapag-aralan pa namin ang project at kung paano nito mai-improve ang aming services (We will try our best to deliver better services to the people. We will learn more about this project and how it can help us improve the quality of our services).”
Prior to the signing of the MOA, a project orientation was conducted by the Social Technology Bureau to explain further to LGU the purpose and scope of the SIPAG project which will be piloted for six months. Also, an action planning was initiated by the DSWD to discuss on the necessary preparation vital to the actual implementation.
Further, the LGU social workers will undergo a training organized by the STB on March 25 to 29 to equip and to prepare them thoroughly for the actual implementation in April.
The event was personally graced by Social Technology Bureau Division Chief Melvin C. Dayrit and DSWD Caraga Assistant Regional Director for Administration Angelita B. Amista. They were joined by Senior Administrative Assistant Alejandro S. Garcia and CSWDO Head Leticia M. Yu of the City Government of Bislig.###(CLEA MARIEL C. MALUNHAO/Social Marketing Section/DSWD Field Office Caraga)
