DSWD's 'flawed' aid distribution due to lack of personnel — Recto

The Department of Social Welfare and Development's (DSWD) "flawed" distribution of financial assistance to students over the weekend was due to a lack of personnel, House Deputy Speaker Ralph Recto said Tuesday.

Recto issued the statement after the DSWD's aid distribution last Saturday drew crowds amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with the one in Zamboanga City even resulting in a stampede that injured 29 people. 

"The DSWD's flawed aid distribution to indigent students was a 'teachable moment' which exposed an 'organizational Achilles heel' – the lack of personnel," Recto said in a press release.

The Batangas lawmaker said that the DSWD serves 61.6 million people, or more than half of the population, but only has 2,993 regular personnel, which is the lowest regular staff-to-clientele ratio in the entire bureaucracy. 

"Never has so much been done for so many by so few," Recto said. 

He said DSWD’s lean staff complement means that it spends "4.5 centavos for every budget peso" on personnel services. 

This is lower than the Department of Education's 81%, Department of Agrarian Reform's 49%, and the national government’s 28% share of personnel services cost to the total budget, Recto added.

Recto said that to shore up its manpower, the DSWD has resorted to habitual hiring of temporary employees. 

He said that based on Commission on Audit data, the DSWD has 13,252 contractual personnel, 12,326 contract of service employees and 878 job order personnel. 

Recto called on the DSWD, the Department of Budget and Management, and the Civil Service Commission to speed up the process of changing the employment status of those qualified to be regular employees.

"Hindi na dapat ipa-Tulfo ‘yan kasi nandyan na si Secretary Erwin (There is no need to go to Tulfo because Secretary Erwin is already on board), who, in the overall balance of things, has been doing a great job so far. I know he will champion the pleas of the deserving that their long service be rewarded with job regularization," he said, referring to the Tulfo brothers' popular TV show, who come to the aid of people who have been wronged. 

Tulfo has since apologized for the chaotic aid distribution, which will now be delegated to local government units to prevent crowding and untoward incidents. —VBL, GMA News