The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will soon accept applications for registration, licensing, and accreditation (RLA) of Social Welfare and Development Agencies (SWDAs) through an online platform, an agency official said on Thursday (May 9) during the Media Forum at the Central Office’s New Press Center in Quezon City.
DSWD-Standards Bureau Asst. Director Cynthia Ilano told reporters that the initiative is anchored on one of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr’s 10-point socioeconomic agenda which calls for the digitalization of government processes and operations.
Through the Harmonized Electronic License and Permit System (HELPS), SWDAs can submit their requirements and monitor the status of their applications real-time.
“Dito po, in the HELPS, ang gagawin nalang po natin ay lahat ng applications, magiging online po. Currently po, traditional ang ginagawa natin. Meaning, yung mga SWDAs natin, they need to go here pa or sa ating Field Offices to submit the requirements and we will process traditionally. Manual po. Para po makasabay tayo sa agenda ng ating mahal na Pangulo,” Asst. Director Ilano explained.
(Here, in the HELPS, all applications will be done online. Currently, we follow a traditional process where SWDAs need to come here or to our Field Offices to submit requirements, and we process them manually. This is also in support of the agenda of President Marcos.)
This innovation is also attuned to one of the seven priority programs and initiatives of the DSWD, the Paspas Serbisyo Program, which is one of the innovations under the administration of Secretary Rex Gatchalian.
The Paspas Serbisyo program aims to streamline, reengineer, automate, digitalize, and centralize the current regulatory programs of the DSWD.
The DSWD official also discussed the agency’s streamlined process of application, citing simplified procedure and lesser requirements. The processing days will be reduced to seven working days, modifying the previously 49 steps to 12 steps.
Asst. Director Ilano said these streamlined processes are included in the new guidelines issued by the DSWD chief that will take effect after publication in the official gazette.
“Ngayon po lahat ay magiging online transaction na. Kung dati, separate po ang application ng registration and licensing, ngayon isa na lang,” Asst. Director Ilano pointed out.
(Now, all transactions will be done online. Previously, the application for registration and licensing were separate, but now you can process both in one application.)
HELPS is scheduled to be launched by the end of June while its full implementation is expected in July.
Through this reengineered system which is seen to increase the number licensed SWDAs, the DSWD aims to serve more poor and vulnerable sectors with improved quality service. #
