ILOILO – Sarah Barayuga is the new chief of the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO).
She assumed office on Jan. 4, replacing Dr. Neneth Pador who retired from the government service.
As a newcomer, Barayuga said she is still in the process of assessing what has been done in the past three years – particularly the internal system and the implementation of the office’s frontline services.
“It is still basically an assessment to make sure we meet the demands of our stakeholders such as the municipal offices, at the same time, in line with what the regional office wants us to do,” Barayuga said.
The new PSWDO chief sees the need to capacitate the staff as well as improve the delivery of Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation.
She said there is also a need to strengthen the giving of technical assistance to local government units (LGUs) in terms of the implementation of social welfare programs.
Barayuga plans to meet with the municipal mayors and the municipal social welfare and development officers to assess whatever additional assistance the province could provide.
She will contact the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) regional office to fine-tune some collaborative programs.
Barayuga said she will also work on strengthening programs and projects in line with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
“With COVID-19, we expect high incidence of violence against women and children (VAWC). So I want to see how prepared we are to address that,” she said.
Barayuga is an experienced social worker and teacher. She has worked in various fields of social work and development for the past 32 years, both in government and the private sector.
She has worked as Project Development Officer V at the DSWD Central Office and Social Welfare Officer III at the DSWD regional office.
Barayuga holds a Master of Management major in Rural Development Management degree from the University of the Philippines-Visayas and Diploma in Social Work from the University of the Philippines (UP)-Diliman. She finished Bachelor of Science in Social Work from UP Diliman.
Barayuga said she still wants to continue serving the government in the hope of introducing reforms and helping the office deliver social welfare services more efficiently and effectively. (With Capitol News/PN)
