00:00Tens of billions of pesos in food, medication, hospitalizations, and miscellaneous aid can be accessed by way of DSWD's assistance to individuals in crisis situations program.
00:13And the wait or processing time has been substantially reduced with faster vetting and facilitated with more convenient accommodations as our Noel Talakay sums up in this report.
00:23This is Jocelyn Sarmiento, 64. She has been patiently waiting in the queue of individuals who want to get assistance from the Department of Social Welfare and Development or DSWD.
00:39She's asking assistance for her ill husband who needs medical help.
00:44Para po sa pambilig gamot at sa laboratory ng asawa ko sa x-ray. Numonyo po, infection na po kasi.
00:50He says that she was wrong about her assumption that she will be staying in the hot, crowded area to wait and even assume that she will be transferring from one office to another.
01:03But her surprise, she is comfortably sitting while waiting for her turn to be interviewed by social workers.
01:11This is the Paragon Building, one of the satellite buildings of the Department of Social Welfare and Development for its Crisis Intervention Center located along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City.
01:24According to the agency, this building serves as the one-stop shop of the frontline services of the agency under assistance to individuals in crisis situations or AICS.
01:38All Filipinos are open to come here regardless of your status quo in life.
01:44He says that all the assistance from the agency under AICS program can now be availed at the Crisis Intervention Center such as medical assistance and hospitalization.
02:09Murata emphasized that the policy on one hospitalization assistance per confinement including the promissory note of the patient's family.
02:20What are my promissory note at talagang wala pang effort ang family to attend to that, then di asabili ka.
02:25Ngayon na-hospital ka ngayong araw, nakadischarge ka bukas, pero kina lunisan na-hospital ka ulit.
02:32Hindi prepared, hindi kayo ready. So we cover still that hospitalization.
02:36Another assistance that you can get from the center is for medicine.
02:41The agency can provide up to three months' supply. Burial assistance is also available.
02:47Even the fare going back to the provinces due to emergencies is available at the said center.
02:54But Murata stresses that this is only a one-way trip ticket.
03:00Biglang namatay ang kapamilya mo, wala kang pera, gusto mong umuwi, bibigay natin yan.
03:04There are more assistance that one can access at the Crisis Intervention Center of the DSWD like food assistance, guarantee letter, psychosocial support, and students who are in crisis situation.
03:23According to the record of the agency, as of August 2025, there are over P30 billion worth of funds that the DSWD has already released,
03:34which is comprised of cash-out assistance and guarantee letters.
03:39Noel Talakay from the National TV Network for New and Better Philippines.
