Pope, Ruby and DSWD

The country is  busy preparing for two events:  the visit of  Pope Francis  in January  2015 and the International Eucharistic Congress in January of 2016.  The pope  is coming to comfort victims of typhoon Yolanda in Tacloban City and Palo,  Leyte and has several engagements in Manila. Many   Cebuanos were disappointed that His Holiness would skip Cebu and    are praying  hard that he would  change his mind and  decide to drop by Cebu City to say Mass.

For me, it is enough that the Pope will be visiting the Philippines.  We must remember that in 2016, the IEC  will be held in Cebu. We still have about one year to  pray and lobby for the Pope to attend this great Catholic gathering.

It is already a blessing that  Pope Francis will set foot in the Philippines  next month. We have  the opportunity to see him up close if we choose to go  to Manila or Tacloban to attend the Mass that His Holiness will celebrate.

Another good news for  Cebuanos is that our sinulog dance will be presented before the Pope. The Sandiego Dance Company was  given the opportunity to teach the dance steps to six million people expected to attend the Mass at the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park.

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I am happy that finally, the national government will  fund  new equipment for the Pagasa weather bureau especially since  rougher storms are expected  in the future.

In past years,  people  criticized Pagasa  for its  poor forecasts without considering that the weather station has been doing its best to provide service  despite its inadequate equipment.

If  we want the  weather station to upgrade its  forecasting capability, especially when it comes to the path of  storms,  providing them with world-class weather equipment is non-negotiable.

It is  difficult to fathom why the national government has given generous financial assistance through the pork barrel to legislators  but not to our very important weather station.

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Many are wondering why the  Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) called for volunteers to pack relief goods for  victims of  typhoon Ruby.

Apparently not enough  heeded its call because there was still a shortage of volunteers.

The shortage  may have been caused by physical exhaustion of those engaged in the massive repacking during the aftermath of Yolanda in 2013. Perhaps,  people were also discouraged by  negative reports about the repacking efforts of DSWD, especially on reports that  some foreign donations didn’t reach the target beneficiaries or that the  name of the DSWD was placed on some  repacked imported goods.

Some people could no longer trust DSWD given its track record but  I’d say that this perception was unfair.  There  is no question that the DSWD has been doing an exceptionally good job to fulfill to its mandate, though it  had some imperfections along the way.

Let us give the DSWD another chance.

At the same time, we need  people to continue their vigilance in watching the performance of the DSWD.

Remember, this institution plays a crucial role by leading  implementation of  pro-poor programs of the national government especially the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps, where cash assistance amounting to billions of pesos  is given to  indigent families.

The DSWD should account for the money coursed through the agency.

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