“Our country is in a war. Our department is in a war. Our society is in a war. We are in a war. But is not a war about bullets, it is a war against poverty,” Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office Eight Assistant Regional Director Nestor Ramos said during the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement with the private and public partners (PPP) yesterday at the Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining Corporation Foundation, Inc. (PASAR), at the Leyte Industrial Development Estate (LIDE), Isabel, Leyte.

The MOA signing is a renewal of partnership between DSWD’s Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS) and the private and public partners – PASAR Foundation and the Leyte Dental Chapter. The said event marks the second year of partnership with PPP.

Ramos noted, “Combating poverty is not a sole responsibility of the government, or of the DSWD. It is a collective effort of different agencies, whether of the national or local, the private and public sectors, and the society as a whole.”

The Kalahi-CIDSS PPP initiative is one of the refinements of the implementation of the community-driven development (CDD) program of the department. This is also in line with President Aquino’s development agenda which follows the track of the Philippines Development Plan for 2011-2016 and the vision of achieving inclusive growth, providing employment opportunities and significant poverty reduction and achieving the Millenium Development Goals by 2015.

Presently, Kalahi-CIDSS also has an existing partnership with AVON Philippines – Tacloban Branch, the Pag-asa Youth Association of the Philippines (PYAP), and DYAJ Power FM Radio-Ormoc.

Ramos expressed gratitude in behalf of the department for the willingness of these partners to work together with Kalahi-CIDSS in addressing poverty and in the delivery of basic social services in the community level. He added, “We dream of a society where we will not see a child scourging through a pile of garbage looking for something to eat. We dream of a society where the parents need not go abroad to work as domestic helpers. I believe this is possible as we work together as partners.”

Attorney Dondie Perolino, PASAR Foundation Trustee and Corporate Legal Officer, said, “The foundation supports the same cause that Kalahi-CIDSS is advocating: improving people’s lives.”

PASAR Foundation Executive Director Ruben Cajigas affirmed this, saying, “We have programs that promote education and youth development. We are also open for future job opportunities.” He added, “In fact, we accept student interns from the different universities all over the county.”

PASAR is the only copper smelter and refinery in the Philippines. It is the first in Southeast Asia, having started its commercial operations in 1983.