MANILA, Philippines – Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Judy Taguiwalo on Thursday, September 15, released an order allowing the release of cash grants to beneficiaries even outside the agency’s offices.

The department’s Memorandum Circular 11 establishes DSWD Off-Site Serbisyo, which refers to the release of funds or other forms of assistance to qualified beneficiaries in service centers that would be opened nearer to them.

This service covers beneficiaries of the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) component of the DSWD’s Protective Services Program (PSP). AICS helps survivors of calamities and other crisis situations.

“Because the department considers issues of convenience  when it comes to the beneficiaries’ access to the said services – as well as the need to ensure a safe, orderly, and cost-efficient implementation of the PSP – a mechanism will be implemented and called DSWD Off-Site Serbisyo,” Taguiwalo said in a statement.

The DSWD secretary clarified, however, that these off-site release centers will only be opened when distribution of aid “tends to result to inconvenience to beneficiaries” or is “impractical or not cost-efficient.”

“We are issuing these guidelines in response to concerns that it will not always be easy for our beneficiaries to go to the DSWD field offices. We want to make the process of accessing DSWD PSP services as easy and as convenient as possible for our beneficiaries,” Taguiwalo said.

DSWD regional directors will determine where the off-site centers will be located. They will submit to Taguiwalo the chosen areas and the locations these will service. The centers will likely be in public schools, barangay halls, day care centers, multi-purpose halls, and covered courts.

During the department’s budget deliberations at the House of Representatives, several lawmakers expressed concern that the DSWD’s Memorandum Circular 9 hampers the delivery of services to their constituents. (READ: Congressmen on DSWD’s ‘anti-padrino’ memo: We hold the money)

One provision of the memorandum confines the release of funds and assistance packages to DSWD offices in order to ensure the safety of the department’s staff.

Congressmen pointed out that DSWD centers are often far from sites where immediate help is needed, making the order impractical and inconvenient. – Rappler.com