The 32nd National Filipino Family Week celebration concluded with a gathering of paternal leaders and partner stakeholders on September 30, 2024, in Central Visayas. It aims to promote advocacy that will help respond to the social, economic, and present-day challenges faced by Filipino families.

The celebration is pursuant to Presidential Proclamation No. 60, declaring the last week of September a Filipino Family Week, which will help strengthen family relationships and promote values through key activities.

Carrying the theme Pamilyang Tumutugon sa Pagbabago ng Panahon, the celebration highlighted the importance of family values and advocacies to address the concerns of different communities in the region.

The activity highlighted a discussion on marriage and family in the context of Filipino values with resource person Blessel L. Matsue, a Filipino leadership trainer who shared that family holds a significant role in the community.

In her talk, she discussed how values are deeply rooted and grounded in relationships within the family, the smallest unit of society.

She agreed to advocate for DSWD’s family advocacy programs, which will promote and cultivate a sense of respect and understanding in the community and strengthen communication among family members to address the gaps within Filipino families.

She shared that the values innate to Filipinos—respect, understanding, and a God-fearing attitude—are what the nation can be proud of and could help the country eradicate societal problems such as teenage pregnancy, addiction, and domestic violence, among others.

Moreover, family welfare sector focal person Daisy C. Lor is hopeful that the facilitation of DSWD’s various advocacies, namely, Yakap Bayan, the Empowerment and Reaffirmation of Paternal Abilities, and the Parent Effectiveness Sessions, will help local government units to anchor from and support their local programs for the family sector.

“This is why we are here today—to remind everyone that these family advocacies are models that are ready to be replicated. Our goal is to ensure that our partner LGUs will recognize its importance, streamline all our efforts, and replicate it locally,” Lor said in her message to the participants.

Leading advocacies

Regional Inter-Agency Committee for Filipino Families (RIACFF) Chairperson and Regional Director Shalaine Marie S. Lucero emphasized that the agency remains committed to delivering and implementing the important advocacies of DSWD for the family sector.

According to her, the department is strengthening its ties with LGUs to promote family advocacies for replication and localization. “DSWD continues to provide technical assistance to communities for appreciation, and LGUs to implement the programs locally to address the issues of the sector,” the chair said.

The Yakap Bayan provides aftercare training modules, which the trainers use in the sessions to reintegrate individuals recovering from substance dependence to ensure that the journey towards healing is shared within the community. Currently, 30 LGUs have signed agreements to replicate the project.

ERPAT group consists of trained paternal volunteers in 18 LGUs committed to spiritual-based values and strategies for solidarity, development, and community services. The active volunteers are trained to conduct training for fathers in their communities to share the advocacy. DSWD is also in the pipeline to create a regional federation of officers, which is yet to be finalized by the end of the year.

The PES continues to be part of the family development sessions of 4Ps household beneficiaries, and the daycare workers also discuss PES topics in daycare centers where children are beneficiaries of DSWD’s Supplementary Feeding Program.

The Department also provides technical assistance to LGUs in implementing RA 11861, or the Expanded Solo Parents Welfare Act, which mandates LGUs to issue identification cards that will be used as the basis for the delivery of basic programs and services for solo parents, including financial assistance.

Additionally, the Kainang Pamilya Mahalaga Day is an advocacy that communities can observe throughout the year as a simple reminder that families should and must spend time together more often over meals to talk and make connections with each other.

“The present-day challenges call for the DSWD and its partner stakeholders to be proactive and responsive to the community needs. By using these advocacies at the grassroots level, we are certain that challenges are addressed locally,” Lucero said.

Poor households

The presentation of Lester R. Laborte, the regional focal coordinator of the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) or Listahanan of the results of the Listahanan 3 Database, also highlighted the event.

NHTS-PR is a targeting mechanism used by DSWD to identify who and where the poor are, and the data will be used to come up with a list of potential beneficiaries for social protection programs.

In the Listahanan 3 project, DSWD identified 480,521 poor households from over 1.1 million, or 43.42%, of the assessed households in the region. From this database, about 63,840 individuals are solo parents, while 168,663 ages 15–22 are out-of-school youth.

This information challenged the participants to promote, increase their capacities, and provide essential programs that will confront the vulnerabilities of poor Filipino families. ###

 

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