More than 400,000 complaints regarding the implementation of the national government’s Social Amelioration Program (SAP) have been received by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
DSWD Secretary Rolando Bautista assured that the complaints will not fall on deaf ears as he encouraged the public to air their grievances through the agency’s various communication channels.
The DSWD assured that all SAP hotline numbers “are operational and active to receive and respond to queries, complaints, and grievances on the program.”
The public may ask questions and provide feedback through the following active DSWD hotline numbers, 24/7: For text only – 0918-912-2813; For call only – 0947-482-2864, 0916-247-1194, 0932-933-3251. It also has a landline number, 8931-81-01 to 07 local 555.
The public may also send an email to [email protected] or [email protected], the new DSWD portal, which was launched last August 13 to respond to common complaints and concerns of the public on the SAP such as the ineligibility of other beneficiaries, violations on the distribution process, and delay in the distribution of the aid, among others.
The agency assured the public that its social media accounts continue to respond to messages and comments.
“Higit sa 400,000 na ang natanggap na mga reklamo sa pamamagitan ng iba’t-ibang platforms, sa telepono, e-mail, WiServ (Wireless Service), at uSAP Tayo website at ito ay tinutugunan ng ating ahensya ,” Bautista said during a Laging Handa briefing.
To strengthen its SAP grievance response system, he said that the DSWD Central Office’s Agency Operations Center (AOC) that is tasked to attend to SAP-related complaints and concerns has been “replicated” in various field offices of the agency.
Just like the DSWD-CO’s AOC, Bautista said the operations centers in the field offices receive complaints from each region in the country.
The DSWD maintained that its communication lines to the public remain open, especially to beneficiaries of its programs and services, as part of bringing the government closer to the people.
In a virtual press briefing on Sept. 24, Bautista said that as of Sept.23, 8 p.m., the DSWD has already distributed P83.1 billion worth of SAP 2 aid to around 13, 907, 374 beneficiaries.