DAVAO CITY (PIA) – The “Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-asa” Program (BP2P) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development in the region has served a total of 367 families consisting of 1,072 members, as of end of 2022.

DSWD-XI’s BP2P focal Lee Mecris Berdos said that the agency provided the beneficiaries with emergency cash assistance for medical, burial, and other emergency expenses.

“The main objective is to decongest the highly urbanized areas or cities, so that it will also contribute to the regional achievement balance on development,” she stated in one of the episodes of Kapehan sa Dabaw by the Philippine Information Agency Region XI in partnership with SM City Davao.

Enacted through Executive Order (EO) No. 114, the BP2P aims to give the beneficiaries who decided to settle in their original hometown or in other resettlement areas, a wide array of opportunities, along with employment, industrialization, and improved quality of services, to start a new life.

Among the various assistance being offered by DSWD, is the Transitory Family Support Package which will provide food and non-food items for the beneficiaries and their family members who are still in the transition period for three months.

Another assistance is given under the Livelihood Settlement Grant which sustains the beneficiaries’ economic activity and income, wherein they will be the ones to propose their chosen livelihood activities.

The Transitory Shelter Assistance will be provided to those who come from highly urbanized cities and other areas where the beneficiaries will be provided with temporary shelter in the form of house rental or through construction.

“Since the state of calamity has ended, the program refocused on the objectives to help the families who are affected by the inflation and those affected by man-made and natural disasters and those who are facing economic struggles,” Berdos said.

Meanwhile, DSWD-XI has also been conducting a “kamustahan” activity, wherein the social workers visit the families to assess their current situation and provide other necessary assistance. (PIA-XI/Franchette Delfin)