The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) welcomes the latest results of Pulse Asia’s Ulat ng Bayan Nationwide Survey, which shows that the DSWD continues to enjoy high approval ratings amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Results from the survey fieldwork, which was conducted from September 14 to 20, 2020 using face-to-face interviews, showed a 77 percent nationwide approval rating on the performance of the Department. The survey covered 1,200 nationally representative respondents.

Meanwhile, DSWD Secretary Rolando Joselito D. Bautista scored a 63 percent nationwide approval rating, an increase by 2 percentage points from the 61 percent rating recorded during the last survey conducted in December 2019.

DSWD attributed majority of Filipinos’ continuous trust on its performance to its prompt and compassionate delivery of social protection programs, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as the Emergency Cash Subsidy (ESP) under the Social Amelioration Program (SAP).

The survey revealed that a majority of all respondents or 65 percent said that they or a member of their household benefitted from the SAP-ESP implemented by DSWD. The percentage saying that they received the assistance is higher among socio-economic class E, but lower among socio-economic class ABC.

Meanwhile, according to the findings of the September 2020 Nationwide Survey on the National Administration and the President’s Handling of the COVID-19 Pandemic, 84 percent approved of the overall performance of the national government when it comes to providing assistance/subsidy to those who lost their livelihood and jobs due to the pandemic.

In addition to the cash subsidy, DSWD delivers family food packs and other food and non-food items to augment the resources of local government units and to help them respond to the food needs of their constituents. The Department also continues to implement its regular programs aimed at helping poor families cope with their day-to-day lives, including the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation, the Social Pension for Indigent Senior Citizens, Supplementary Feeding for children, Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, Sustainable Livelihood Program, and Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services.

DSWD emphasized that the result of the survey affirmed that the Department and other national government agencies have been very responsive to the basic needs of the Filipino people in the midst of the pandemic, especially that a large majority (82%) of the respondents said they need financial help given their current situation as a result of the pandemic. Other services needed that were cited by a majority of the respondents (57% to 60%) include livelihood program, relief assistance, and free medical help. The percentage citing financial help is essentially the same across geographic areas but is higher for Classes D1, D2 and E than Class ABC.

The Department also stated that the result of the survey serves as a motivation for its personnel to continue to work tirelessly, despite the threat of COVID-19, to support and improve the lives of the poor, marginalized, and vulnerable Filipinos.

Pulse Asia’s Ulat ng Bayan survey for this year probed the quality of life of Filipinos, the performance of selected public officials and government agencies, and other relevant national concerns. ###