The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) led by Secretary Rex Gatchalian signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on Saturday (August 10) with 25 new service providers to ensure a more efficient way for individuals in crisis situations to meet their medical needs.

“In making things more efficient, we have decided to convert a lot of our cash assistance to guarantee letters (GL) that way, yung primary purpose nila will be met. If it’s for medical, medicine, prosthetics, lahat yan ma-mimeet because it’s guarantee letter and they cannot use that for anything else,” Secretary Gatchalian said his speech at the ceremonial signing held at the DSWD Central Office.

The MOA stipulates that clients who secured a GL through the DSWD’s Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) program will be accommodated by the partner service providers and given the necessary medical services, medicines and procedures as stated in the letter.

A GL is a document issued by the DSWD in favor of the beneficiary and addressed to a service provider to guarantee the payment for services.

For its part, the Department will ensure that it has funds available for the services that will be granted or rendered by the service provider to the AICS beneficiaries.

Secretary Gatchalian also mentioned the plans of the agency to automate the AICS program as part of the DSWD’s digital transformation initiatives.

“We are already embarking on automating the whole AICS program from dispensing, all the way to your billing so that it becomes faster and more efficient for you and us. We want to make sure that we are able to dispense the service fast, automated, at the convenience of their handheld devices, but simply, we want you to bill us on time and for us to pay you on time,” the DSWD chief pointed out.

The other DSWD officials present in the ceremonial signing were Undersecretary for Operations Monina Josefina Romualdez, Asst. Secretary Ada Colico, and Program Management Director (PMB) Asst. Director Edwin Morata.

Meanwhile the service providers present in the ceremonial signing were Ace Medical Center-QC; Aramax Solution,  Incorporation; Delos Santos Medical Center; Fortune Jade Medical Equipment and Supplies Trading; FRG Orthopedic Supplies Trading; Gapan Drug Inc.; Garrod Specialty Pharmacy; Gruppo Technico Medico Internationale; Helande Kidney Care Incorporated; Integra Medical Solution; Instalimb Philippines; Marikina Valley Medical Center; F.Y Manalo Medical Foundation Inc. (New Era General Hospital); Ortigas Hospital and Health Care Center; Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital – East Manila; Peridots Medical Supplies; Prime Dialysis Center/ERX ONEWORLD PH; Premier 101 Dialysis Center; Quirino Memorial Medical Center; Recuenco General Hospital; Sanare Medical Products; South Star Drug; Tricity Medical Center; UERM Hospital; and, World Citi Medical Center.

The AICS is one of the social welfare services of the DSWD that provides medical, burial, transportation, education, food, or financial assistance to individuals who are in crisis as assessed by social workers. #