Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

Twentieth Congress
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. _2457

Introduced by Representatives Dante S. Garcia and
Kenneth Paolo C. Tereng

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This Bill aims to chart the future of one of the most successfully-implemented programs of the
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) ~ the Assistance to Individuals in
Crisis Situations Program (AICS). The DSWD-AICS Program has been implemented by the
DSWD for decades and it has served countless Filipinos who were forced to crisis due to
calamities or man-made causes.

The Philippine Institute for Development Studies estimates that the middle class makes up
about 40% of the country’s population. This group is characterized as houscholds with per
capita incomes ranging from 2 to 12 times the official poverty threshold. In 2021, this
translated to a monthly income of approximately PHP 25,000.00 to PHP 145,000.00 for a
family of five. Given the ongoing rise in the cost of goods and services due to inflation, a
single crisis could easily destabilize the financial standing of a middle-class household

Thus, the need to institutionalize the DSWD-AICS Program that is broader in coverage and
therefore benefits more people.

In vie foregoing, the approval of this measure is earnestly sought.

Fado.
. GARCIA. KENNETH Ted? GSTERENG
LA UNION. KM Ngayon Na Party-List

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Republic of the Philippines

House of Representatives
Quezon City, Metro Manila

Twentieth Congress
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 245

Introduced by Representatives Dante S. Garcia and
Kenneth Paolo C. Tereng

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

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

SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. - It is the policy of the State to promote a just and
dynamic social order alleviating the plight of the poor through policies that provide adequate
social services and raise the standard of living for the improved quality of life for all. To this
end, the State shall provide assistance through projects, programs and services geared towards
alleviating poverty and improving the quality of life of every Filipino, especially the
marginalized sector, and disadvantaged individuals and families.

SEC. 3. Definition of Terms. ~ As used in this Act:

4. Assistive technology refers to “assistive products” whose primary purpose is to
increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of persons with
disabilities, 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;

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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 improve the capability
of qualified beneficiaries in addressing their needs;

Cash relief assistance refers to an outright cash provided to individuals and families
that are currently in extremely difficult circumstances such as victims of
calamities/disasters, crimes, victims of violence against women and their children,
trafficking and repatriated overseas Filipino workers and other similar
circumstances.

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 necds, life support equipment, and
other needs of persons with disabilities;

Educational assistance refers to financial assistance extended to all 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 outright cash,
electronic fund transfer, guarantee letter, coupon, check or voucher that has
monetary value, including funeral assistance, transportation assistance, medical
assistance, educational assistance, training assistance, food assistance, cash relief
assistance, and all other types of cash assistance that may be provided under the
Program;

Funeral 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;

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;


J. Funeral 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;

k 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;

1. Material and other in-kind assistance refers to an assistance given to individuals in
crisis by providing them food and non-food items, non-financial, and the likes, and
may also include other professional assistance available in the DSWD, such as
psycho-social support and legal consultation;

m. Medical assistance refers to out-of-pocket expense in the form of coupon, stub,
guarantee letter, promissory note or voucher that has monetary value, given directly
to recipients or beneficiaries to pay for hospitalization expenses, other medical
treatments or procedures, and which include birthing procedure, as well as
professional fees and consultation fees, purchase of drugs, medicines, goods or
other services prescribed by the physician of a health facility for in- and out-
patients;

n. 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 the “National Integrated Cancer Control Act” and persons with rare disease
under Republic Act No. 10747, otherwise known as the “Rare Diseases Act of the
Philippines";

0. Target beneficiaries refer to individuals or families who are indigent, financially
incapacitated, stateless persons, repatriates, deportees, transients, vulnerable,
disadvantaged, or internally displaced persons or in crisis situations based on the
assessment of the social workers of the DSWD, and

p. 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.

SEC. 4, Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS). - To effectively respond
to the individuals in crisis situation, each qualified target beneficiary shall receive financial,
medical, transportation, food, material assistance, and other assistance, to include disability
support services including other professional assistance available in the DSWD, such as
psychosocial support or intervention for dysfunctional families and their children who need
trauma care and management, and legal consultation, based on the assessment of the social
workers of the DSWD.


SEC. 5. Types of Assistance. — The following are the types of assistance that the target
beneficiaries may receive under the Program based on the assessment and recommendation of
the social workers, authorized personnel, or any other personnel authorized by the DSWD, duly
approved by their authorized officials:

a) Financial assistance — as defined in Section 3, paragraph (g);

b) Material assistance- a service providing food and non-food items to clients who
need immediate material support, such as food packs or vouchers, hygiene or
sleeping kits and assistive devices and technologies, subject to its availability;

©)

Psychosocial support service — a service provided by trained or professional
psychosocial support workers to help meet the psychological, emotional, and social
needs of beneficiaries and their families. It is a set of interventions that intends to
positively improve a person’s behavior to reduce the impact of stress brought about
by a crisis through behavioral modification interventions;

d) Referral service — a service provided when the requested support is not within the
range of services of the Program through coordination and/or endorsement of the
beneficiary’s case within the DSWD’s available programs, projects and services
and to other agencies such as to the Department of Education, Commission on
Higher Education, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority,
Department of Health (DOH), Public Attorney’s Office, Philippine Charity
Sweepstakes Office, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, local
government units (LGUs) and other government agencies, civil society
organizations, and international/non-government organizations, and

€) Such other services that the DSWD may deem appropriate.

In order to fully meet the medical needs of individuals in crisis situations, particularly
persons with disabilities or people with special needs. The DOH may provide the initial costing
per type of disability for the effective assessment of social workers of the DSWD.

Appropriate documentation as provided for in the DSWD AICS Guidelines shall
support all disbursements of funds. The DSWD may provide additional assistance or
discontinue existing ones as it may deem appropriate.

SEC. 6. Modes of Delivery of Services. ~ The DSWD shall adopt different modes in
order to deliver efficiently, expeditiously and effectively the financial or material assistance,
psychosocial support, and referral service to the clients and communities needing assistance
from the government such as the following:

a) Service delivery within the Central or Field Offices;
b) Setting up of an off-site or satellite venues, and
c) Extension office of the DSWD for the Program.


Provided, that the DSWD shall procure and/or construct a secure office system,
information and communication technology equipment, and all necessary capital outlay
expenditures such as vehicles, and vaults, among others, needed to efficiently and effectively
implement the Program.

Provided, further, that the DSWD may also establish an automated system for
processing and releasing the requested assistance. For this purpose, the appropriations needed
for the payment of the necessary cash-out fees or other service fees charged by partner financial
institutions shall form part of the DSWD annual budget under the General Appropriations Act.

SEC. 7, Integrated Program Delivery System. - To improve the delivery of service to
the eligible beneficiaries under the Program, there shall be an established Integrated Program
Delivery System

In keeping with the principle of equitable access, and ensuring that access to the AICS
is maximized, 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 such as the Philippine Statistics Authority, DOH-
Malasakit Centers, and LGUs may share information from a centralized database in order to
identify the assistance given to the Program’s eligible beneficiary, for purposes of assistance
augmentation and to prevent a possible abuse of the assistance given to those in crisis
situations.

SEC 8. Crisis Intervention Office/Division/Unit.- To ensure effective and efficient
delivery of services to the clients, there shall exist a Crisis Intervention Office (CIO) at the
Central Office, Crisis Intervention Divisions at the field offices, and Crisis Intervention Units
at the Social Welfare and Development satellite offices of the DSWD that ensure that the
Program, as enterprise information system, provided herein, is properly implemented,
monitored, and evaluated nationwide. The office shall monitor and evaluate the
implementation of AICS Program and prepare the monitoring and evaluation report for
submission to the Secretary of the DSWD. The monitoring and evaluation report must be
available and accessible to any stakeholder at the national, regional, and local levels.

SEC. 9. Personnel Complement. — The Secretary of the DSWD, in coordination
with the CIO Director at the Central Office and Regional Offices, shall determine the additional
positions required for the implementation of the program in accordance with the revised
compensation and position classification system subject to the evaluation and approval of the
Department of Budget and Management and in compliance with the civil service laws, rules
and regulations, and other pertinent laws.

SEC. 10. Program Monitoring and Evaluation- The DSWD shall conduct
monitoring and evaluation to assess the responsiveness of the Program through the use of
applicable indicators, frameworks, models, and tools, including a client/stakeholder’s feedback
mechanism, among others, and the establishment of standard reporting templates and
procedures in consonance to applicable laws, rules, and regulations.


SEC. 11. Program Transparency and Reporting The DSWD shall annually

Publish a full report of the Program covering the implementation of the previous fiscal year

and/or timely post and update periodically on the DSWD website a report of financial

disclosures and information about beneficiaries based on geographical area and sectoral

category subject to the provisions of Republic Act No. 10173, or the “Data Privacy Act of,
2.

SEC. 12. Unlawful Acts. —

. It shall be unlawful for the officials or employees of LGUs, their agents, representatives
or relatives within the fourth civil degree of consanguinity or affinity to interfere, in
any manner, in the implementation or delivery of AICS services or funds to qualified
beneficiaries;

. Likewise, it shall be unlawful for any individual or organization to commit the
following acts:

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

ii Coerce, invite, encourage or assist 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;

ili, 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.

SEC. 13. Penalties.-

a. _ Any of the specified person who committed the unlawful act under Section 12
(a) of this Act shall be punished by imprisonment of six (6) months. If the offender is
an official or employee of a LGU, the official or employee shall also be held
administratively liable;

b. Any person, group or organization who commit the unlawful acts under Section
12 (b) of this Act shall be punished by:

() For the First Offense- one (1) year suspension from availing any assistance
from the DSWD; and

(i) For the Second Offense — imprisonment of not less than one (1) year but not
more than six (6) years.

If the offender is an organization, the president, manager, or any officer of the

organization who participated in the commission of the acts enumerated above or benefited
therefrom, or both, shall be held liable and shall be punished by imprisonment of not less than
six (6) years but not more than ten (10) years. This is without prejudice to any action against
the organization or corporation before appropriate government agency,

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Conspiracy to commit the foregoing unlawful acts shall be penalized by the same
penalty prescribed under this Section.

Ina circumstances, the government shall be authorized to prosecute or to file cases on
behalf of the private individual defrauded and damaged by the aforementioned acts.

Any person who was coerced, invited, encouraged or misled while committing the
crimes above, or any person who has witnessed or has knowledge or information on the
commission of the crime and has testified or is testifying or about to testify before any judicial
or quasi-judicial body, or before any investigating authority, may be admitted into the witness
Protection program; Provided , that to become a state witness for this crime, the said person
shall not be the most guilty.

A public official or personnel who commits, abets, or aids in the commission of any of
the Unlawful Acts provided herein shall be liable under the Revised Penal Code and other
existing penal laws. Administrative sanctions shall be imposed without prejudice to
prosecution in the proper courts,

SEC. 14, Cash Equivalents.- It shall be mandatory for any public or private entity
that provides services under this Program to accept the guarantee letter, coupon, check or
voucher issued by the DSWD as full or partial payment of the obligation of the qualified
beneficiary.

The DSWD must, within three (3) months from the date of acceptance, pay the public
or private entity of the amount appearing on the guarantee letter, coupon, or voucher.

SEC. 15. Joint Congressional Oversight Committee. — A congressional oversight
committee is 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 is composed of five (5) Senators and five (5) Representatives
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. The four (4) other members from the Senate and House of Representatives
shall be composed of three (3) members from each of the aforementioned committees, and one
(1) from the minority.

For purposes of determining remedial legislation, the oversight committee shall, within
two (2) 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.


SEC.16. Implementing Rules and Regulations. — Within six (6) months from the
effectivity of this Act, the Secretary of the DSWD shall in consultation with the Secretary of
the DOH and the Commission on Audit, promulgate the necessary rules and regulations to
carry out the provisions of this Act.

SEC.17. Appropriations. — The amount necessary for the initial implementation of this
Act shall be charged against the current year’s appropriations of DSWD. Thereafter, such
amount necessary for the continued implementation of this Act shall be included in the annual
General Appropriations Act.

SEC.18. 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.

SEC.19. 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.

SEC. 20. Effectivity. ~This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication
in the Official Gazette ot in a newspaper of general circulation.

Approved,