The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) continues to give “ayuda” or aid through its various programs such as the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS) and the Ayuda para sa mga Kapos and Kita Program (AKAP), Secretary Rex Gatchalian said on Monday.

“As the government’s lead agency for social protection, our social workers, which we aptly call Angels in Red Vests, are always working to render assistance to the vulnerable, marginalized and those undergoing crisis. Our social workers are living by example the DSWD’s motto: Maagap at Mapagkalingang Serbisyo,” Gatchalian said in a statement.

The AICS program is designed and created to benefit families and individuals who are economically disadvantaged, vulnerable, or part of the informal sector facing crises as determined by the assessment of social workers.

Meanwhile, AKAP provides financial aid to minimum wage earners falling under the low-income category, and who are severely affected by rising inflation.

Farmers and fisherfolk whose livelihoods have been affected by the El Nino and oil spill, respectively, have also benefitted from AKAP.

The DSWD chief said other forms of “ayuda”, include family food packs (FFPs), which are prepositioned in warehouses across the regions, and Emergency Cash Transfers (ECT), which are immediately given to families and individuals affected by natural disasters such as typhoons and flooding.

Gatchalian pointed out that these aid are extended by the DSWD on a targeted and organized manner in favor of identified and vetted victims of calamities to help them get back on their feet.

“It is always better to have a surplus of ‘ayuda’ than a shortage of it because if the latter happens, then the government is running the most alarming of all deficits, and that is the deficit of compassion,” he said.

“There is no politics in the granting of aid. The only requirement is that it is truly needed by those in difficult circumstances,” the DSWD chief added. (PNA)