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MANILA, Philippines 鈥� On its 74th anniversary, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Tuesday launched several new programs to improve the delivery of development initiatives.
In its anniversary celebration at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City, the newly launched programs included a new online platform for receiving donations, a virtual one-stop-shop for the DSWD鈥檚 regulatory services, an online system for the issuance of travel clearance to minors and a new family welfare model.
Donations portal
The donation platform 鈥撀� 鈥淜aagapay Donations Portal,鈥� is aimed at allowing donors to send their cash donations either to the DSWD for disaster relief operations; or in-kind and cash donations to DSWD centers and residential care facilities (CRCFs).
According to the DSWD, the portal is seen to enhance both operational efficiency and overall donor experience.
鈥淭he Kaagapay Donations Portal integrates advanced functionalities that ensure real-time donations facilitation,鈥� DSWD Spokesperson Irene Dumlao said.
鈥淭hrough the portal, donors will have the option to choose if they want to donate through online payment gateways or via logistics partners to personally deliver their in-kind donations to our CRCFs,鈥� she added.
One-stop-shop
Meanwhile, the digital platform which would serve as the DSWD鈥檚 virtual one stop shop for all regulatory services was also launched with the name 鈥淗armonized Electronic License and Permit System鈥� or Helps.
The said system allows DSWD鈥檚 clients to access its regulatory services anytime and anywhere, including making the certification for the registration, license to operate, and accreditation (CRLA) of social welfare and development agencies (SWDAs), peoples organizations and other civil society organizations (CSOs) much faster.
According to Dumlao, the manual process of applying for registration used to take three to six months with multiple walk-in transactions in DSWD offices, but with the Helps online portal, clients can file their applications for RLAs in only 20 minutes and receive their certificates as fast as 14 days.
鈥淭hrough the digital application system, the processing of the CRLA will be streamlined from 43 days to just 7 days for registration and licensing and 7 days for accreditation or 14 days in total,鈥� Dumlao said.
鈥淲e also trimmed the client steps from 49 to just 12 steps. The documentary requirements were also simplified from 50 to just 11 documents,鈥� she added.
Travel clearance, family model
The DSWD in the same event also unveiled its new online system which would streamline the application and issuance of travel clearances for minors traveling abroad by allowing applicants to complete the process from home without visiting DSWD offices.
According to Dumlao, the new online system is seen to reduce the processing time for applications with complete, verified, and authentic documents to just one to three days, along with a real-time status tracking.
However, despite the shift to an online system, Dumlao assured that the documents will still undergo human verification, particularly, by concerned Central Office personnel; and that only QR-coded or notarized documents will be accepted to ensure the documents鈥� validity and authenticity.聽
Meanwhile, the 鈥淧amilya sa Bagong Pilipinas鈥� is a new rights-based, family-oriented, and inclusive development model for Filipino families.
鈥淭he Pamilya sa Bagong Pilipinas model is proposed to be the government鈥檚 main strategy for social change and empowerment that will help reduce the vulnerability of Filipino families by helping them access social protection programs and the setting up of viable community structures,鈥� Dumlao pointed out.