Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
‘Quezon City, Metro Manila

TWENTIETH CONGRESS
1" Regular Session

House Bill No. 1514.

Introduced by Representatives ERIC GO YAP and EDVIC G. YAP

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS) is part of the Department of
Social Welfare and Development's (DSWD) protective services for the poor,
marginalized, and vulnerable / disadvantaged individuals / families. It has been
implemented by the agency for decades, as part of its technical assistance and
resource augmentation support to Local Government Units and other partners.

Up to the present, it complements the social amelioration programs of the
government and sustains the basic necessities of families affected by the health and
socio-economic disruption brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. For the First
Quarter of 2022, 484,784 individuals / households received assistance through the
AICS program, in a range of services, such as immediate rescue and provision of
direct financial assistance, psychosocial support, and material assistance including
medical, transportation, financial, burial, and other services.

This bill seeks to institutionalize AICS, to further strengthen and enhance the
existing assistance delivery system to benefit the Filipino people in need. It shall
continue to serve as a social safety net or stop-gap measure to support the recovery
of individuals and families suffering from unexpected life events or crises.

In view of the foregoing, approval of this bill is earnestly sougKt.

=

HON. ERIC GO YAP HON. EDVIC G. YAP


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

TWENTIETH CONGRESS,
1" Regular Session

House Bill No._1514

Introduced by Representatives ERIC GO YAP and EDVIC G. YAP

AN ACT
INSTITUTIONALIZING THE ASSISTANCE TO INDIVIDUALS IN CRISIS
SITUATION PROGRAM OF THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL WELFARE AND
DEVELOPMENT, PROVIDING PENALTIES FOR THE VIOLATION OF
CERTAIN UNLAWFUL ACTS, AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress
assembled:

SECTION 1. Short Title. This Act shall be known as the "Assistance to
Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) Act."

SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. - It is the policy of the State to promote a
just, humane, harmonious and productive society, which addresses the plight of the
poor and disadvantaged through interventions that provide focused and adequate
social services, thereby raising their standard of living and quality of life. To do thi,
the State shall provide assistance through projects, programs and services
towards alleviating poverty and improving the quality of life of every Filipino,
during both normal times and crisis situations, especially the marginalized sector
and disadvantaged individuals and families.

SECTION 3. Definition of Terms. - As used in this Act:

a. Assistive Devices and Technologies refer to those whose primary purpose is
to maintain or improve an individual's functioning and independence to
facilitate participation and to enhance overall well-being and help prevent
impairments and secondary health conditions. These include wheelchairs,
prostheses, hearing aids, visual aids, and specialized computer software
and hardware, or any advancement in technologies that increase mobility,
hearing, vision, or communication capacities;

b. Burial assistance refers to assistance to help defray funeral and related
expenses, such as transfer of cadaver, burial site, and other related
expenses incurred by the family of the deceased, with consideration to
context, cultural, and religious backgrounds;


a

Case Management refers to a process of assessing, planning, managing,
coordinating and advocating for services and other interventions used by
the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to enable the
qualified beneficiaries to improve their functioning by dealing with their
difficulties in addressing their needs;

Crisis situation refers to a condition of an individual in a stressful situation
that impairs psychosocial functioning or participation in socio-economic
activities, including access to education, work, and health care, that
requires series of interventions to prevent further exposure to
vulnerabilities, exploitation or abuse;

. Disability support assistance refers to the monetary support to cover the

purchase of assistive products, technologies, provision of sign language
interpreter, personal assistant, maintenance medicines and hygiene needs,
life support equipment, and other needs of persons with disabilities;

Educational assistance refers to financial assistance extended to all eligible
students to help defray school expenses and/or cost of sending
students/children to school such as school fees augmentation, supplies,
projects, allowance and other related expenses and to eradicate barriers to
quality education, including those barriers faced by persons on account of
their disabilities;

. Financial assistance refers to monetary support in the form of cash,

guarantee letters, coupons, checks, or vouchers that has monetary value,
including burial assistance, transportation assistance, medical assistance,
educational assistance, training assistance, food assistance, assistance for
other support services and other allied assistance or physical aid such as
food, clothing, and assistive devices and technologies;

Food assistance refers to assistance to those in need due to human induced
and natural calamities and those experiencing other forms of crisis or
displacement, eviction, demolitions or requiring interventions for
sector-specific support which include hot meals, food or meal allowance,
or the cash equivalent of the required hot meals and/or food packs;

Guarantee letter refers to a document duly approved and issued by the
DSWD, which ensures the payment of the amount appearing on the
document, that the beneficiary presents to any public or government
owned or controlled hospitals or other entities and to any similar private
entity that is willing to provide services on credit and enter into a
partnership agreement with the DSWD;

Material and other assistance refers to assistance given to individuals in
crisis situations by providing them non-food items, non-financial
assistance, and the likes, which may also include professional assistance


available in the DSWD, such as psycho-social support and legal
consultations;

k. Medical assistance refers to out-of-pocket expenses in the form of coupons,
stubs, guarantee letters, promissory notes, or vouchers of monetary value,
given directly to recipients or beneficiaries to pay for hospitalization
expenses, other medical treatments or procedures, as well as professional
fees and consultation fees, purchase of drugs, medicines, goods or other
services prescribed by a physician of a health facility to patients;

L._ Persons with disabilities refer to those who have long-term physical, mental,
intellectual or sensory impairments that hinder their full and effective
participation in society on an equal basis with others, including cancer
patients and persons living with cancer and cancer survivors under
Republic Act No. 11215, otherwise known as “National Integrated Cancer
Control Act” and persons with rare disease under Republic Act No. 10747,
otherwise known as “Rare Diseases Act of the Philippines”;

m. Target Beneficiaries refer to individuals or families who are indigent,
vulnerable, disadvantaged, or internally displaced persons or in crisis
situation based on the assessment of the social workers of the DSWD; and

n. Transportation assistance refers to the monetary support to cover the actual
cost incurred on land, sea, and air travel, including travel insurance and
such other related expenses as facilitated by the social workers of the
DSWD.

SECTION 4. Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS). - The
DSWD shall effectively respond to the needs of individuals/families in crisis by
giving qualified target beneficiaries financial, medical, transportation, food, and
material assistance, and other forms of assistance that may be made available in this
program. Such assistance shall include disability support services such as but not
limited to psychosocial support or intervention for dysfunctional families and their
children who need trauma care and management, legal counseling, and other
available and appropriate professional services based on the assessment of social
workers of the DSWD.

For purposes of this Act, the provision of medical assistance by the
Department of Health (DOH) and its health facilities shall be harmonized with that
being provided by the DSWD and other agencies. Towards this end, Republic No.
11463, also known as the Malasakit Centers Act, shall have suppletory effect for
purposes of streamlining the grant of medical and financial assistance to eligible
beneficiaries at the Malasakit Centers, and to prevent duplication in providing
medical assistance to beneficiaries in crisis situation.

SECTION 5. Type, Kind and Amount of Financial Assistance. - The type, kind
and amount of assistance that the target beneficiaries may receive are based on the


assessment and recommendation of the social workers or authorized personnel of
the DSWD, duly approved by their authorized officials.

a. Other forms of financial assistance such as transportation assistance for
qualified target beneficiaries who come from geographically isolated and
disadvantaged areas shall be given.

b. In order to fully meet the medical needs of individuals in crisis situation,
particularly persons with disabilities or people with special needs such as
persons with spinal cord injury who need catheter and urine bag that
entail additional costs, the DOH may provide the initial costing per type of
disability for the effective assessment of social workers of DSWD. To
ensure effective implementation, DSWD and DOH shall keep a database of
all usual assistance and circumstances, which shall guide planning,
programming, and procurement (if necessary).

c. Aside from the regular AICS referral for their services such as legal
services, psychosocial interventions, and admission to residential facilities
or temporary shelter, a referral system for financial assistance
augmentation shall be utilized by the DSWD.

d. Appropriate documentation as provided for in the DSWD AICS
Guidelines shall support all disbursements of funds.

e. A social case study report is required of those whose assistance is higher
than ten thousand pesos (P10,000.00)

SECTION 6. Provision of Assistance Through Adoptive Means. - The D>WD.
shall adopt means in order to efficiently, expeditiously, and effectively deliver the
financial and material assistance to the clients. [and communities needing assistance
from the government, - may be deleted already] These means may include
establishment of a mobile command center at the DSWD Central Office and in all
regions (or affected regions) and establishment of an automated information system
that can (i) process requests for assistance, (ii) facilitate release of assistance to
beneficiaries, (iii) keep track of and facilitate payments for the necessary service or
financial charges for the delivery of assistance, and (iv) other relevant functions as
stated in Section 5 and 7 of this Act.

SECTION 7. Case Management System. - There shall be established a case
management system to improve service delivery of the AICS to the qualified
beneficiaries.

In keeping with the principle if equitable access [and ensuring that access to
the AICS is maximized - may already be deleted], and as stipulated in relevant
sections of this Act, a mechanism for real-time data sharing between the DSWD and
the LGUs shall be institutionalized, subject to the statutory limitations under the
Data Privacy Act of 2012. Under this mechanism, concerned agencies and LGUs may
share information from the centralized database in order to monitor the assistance


given to qualified beneficiaries for purposes of assistance augmentation, prevention
of abuse, [of the assistance given to those in crisis situations - may already be
deleted], and planning.

SECTION 8. Crisis Intervention Program Management Office (CIPMO). - A
Crisis Intervention Program Management Office is created at the Central Office of
the Department of Social Welfare and Development. The office shall monitor and
evaluate the implementation of AICS Program and prepare monitoring and
evaluation reports for submission to the Secretary of the DSWD. The monitoring and
evaluation reports must be available and accessible to any stakeholder at the
national, regional, and local levels. - This is problematic given the plans for
“rightsizing the bureaucracy”. /we can’t keep on creating new offices. (See also
comments of DBM-they are correct, for the most parts.) We need to rationalize the
offices, programs, etc. in DSWD vis-a-vis LGUs, Local Government Code, Mandanas
ruling, etc. I suggest to replace this with:

SECTION 8. Reengineered DSWD Specialized Programs Sub-Cluster. In
keeping with the plans of government in rightsizing the bureaucracy, mandate of
local governments, Mandanas-Garcia ruling, and the whole-of-government
approach, the DSWD shall undergo an organizational review and re-engineering to
allow more efficient and effective delivery of AICS and other relevant services under
the Special Programs Sub-Cluster. The current structure and personnel complement
shall continue managing the functions of the AICS program until such time that a
re-engineered organization has been established. If necessary and practical, some
functions may already be fully or partially devolved to the local governments while
other national-level functions may become part of the ongoing rightsizing efforts
such as but not limited to the following:

a. Development of databases shall already be undertaken directly by relevant
agencies such as the Department of Information and Communications
Technology, Philippine Statistics Authority, and National Economic and
Development Authority, provided that such function shall be done with
supervision of and in coordination with DSWD;

b. All medical-related services that are usually provided by the Department
of Health shall automatically be lodged with it unless the qualified
beneficiaries automatically fall within the care of DSWD (eg,, abused
women and children, PWDs, victims of calamities, etc.); and

c. Other functions where transfer to relevant agencies and/or LGUs shall
Jead to seamless and more efficient delivery of services.

SECTION 9. No Additional Plantilla Positions. - The DSWD shall no longer
create new plantilla positions for the AICS program but where necessary and
applicable due to the rightsizing and streamlining efforts, the staffing pattern
necessary for the implementation of this Act and other services under the
Specialized Programs Sub-Cluster shall be modified in coordination with the
Department of Budget and Management and the Civil Service Commission.


SECTION. 10. Personnel Complement. - The Specialized Programs
Sub-Cluster, the Crisis intervention Sections, and the Social Welfare and
Development Satellite Offices that implement AICS programs shall be adequately
staffed by licensed social workers and support staff. If necessary and based on the
organization development or re-engineering process, a program director at the
Central Office shall be assigned/reassigned or promoted from current roster while
the regional directors in the field offices shall support the reorganization process and
rationalize their personnel and operations to ensure effective implementation of the
AICS program and other programs in the sub-cluster.

SECTION. 11. Unlawful Acts and Penalties. - It shall be unlawful for any
individual or organization to:

a. Defraud the government by issuing or presenting falsified or misleading
documents, or using false pretenses or other fraudulent acts to require the
assistance provided under this Act;

b. Coerce, invite or encourage persons to seek assistance from the DSWD for
purposes of acquiring from the beneficiary a portion of the assistance,
before or after the receipt of assistance.

c. Mislead an individual or group to join, pay or cooperate with a group
falsely representing connection or affiliation with DSWD or falsely
promising priority in the processing of assistance.

Any person who commits any of the foregoing unlawful acts shall be
punished by imprisonment of not less than one (1) year but not more than six (6)
years and a fine of not less than but not more than triple the amount of the
assistance, at the discretion of the court. If the offender is an organization, the
president, manager, or any officer of the organization who directly participated in
the violation of the unlawful acts shall be held liable.

SECTION. 11. Joint Congressional Oversight Committee. - A congressional
oversight committee is hereby constituted to monitor, set the overall framework, and
review the implementation of this Act. The committee shall determine the inherent
weaknesses in the law and recommend necessary remedial legislation or executive
measures.

The oversight committee shall be composed of five (5) members from each
House to be appointed by the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of
Representatives, respectively, and co-chaired by the Chairpersons of the Committee
on Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development of the Senate and the Committee
on Social Services of the House of Representatives.

For purposes of determining remedial legislation, the oversight committee
shall, within three (3) years after the effectivity of this Act, conduct a review which


shall include a systematic evaluation of the impact of this Act, accomplishments of
the program, and the performance of the implementing agencies.

SECTION. 12. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - Within six (6) months
from the effectivity of this Act, The Secretary of the DSWD in consultation with the
Secretary of the DOH and the Commission on Audit (COA), shall promulgate the
necessary rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of this Act.

SECTION. 13. Appropriations. - The amount necessary for the initial
implementation of this Act shall be charged against the current year’s appropriations
of DSWD. Thereafter, such sum as may be necessary for the continued
implementation of this Act shall be included in the annual General Appropriations
Act, including the payment for the necessary service fees, financial charges, or
administrative cost, and capital outlay for the establishment of the necessary offices
for the delivery of assistance.

SECTION. 14. Separability Clause. - If any provision or part of this Act is
held invalid or unconstitutional, the remaining parts or provisions not affected shall
remain in full force and effect.

SECTION. 15. Repealing Clause. - All laws. presidential decrees or issuances,
executive orders, letter of instructions, administrative orders, rules, and regulations
or parts thereof contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are
amended, repealed, or modified accordingly.

SECTION. 16. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
publication in the Official Gazette or in a national newspaper of general circulation.

Approved,