The PAMANA program is implemented by the DSWD, in coordination with relevant national government agencies, local government unit, civil society organizations, and other stakeholders.

For the past fifty years, there has been an ongoing insurgency in the country. As a result of its presence in the remote communities in which the poorest of the poor and Indigenous Peoples (IPs) make their homes, the already challenging life of these groups is made even more so.

The government initiated Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan (or PAMANA) as a response, through the DSWD. in the following paragraphs, we will discuss further this program, its benefits, application process, and provide a summary of this initiative.

What is DSWD PAMANA?

The PAMANA is a government initiative that aims to heighten peacebuilding initiatives, reconstruction, and development in conflict-ridden areas. It involves the DSWD, Office Presidential Adviser on Peace Process (OPAPP) as well local governments who ensure communities benefit from improved basic social service delivery while being served by responsive transparent accountable government institutios.

The government will pursue a two-pronged stage: (1) a negotiated political solution of all armed conflicts though peace talks, and (2) programs targeted at alleviated of the root cause of the insurgency. These conflicts are primarily a result a poor delivery of basic social services, poverty, and poor governance, which are real-world realities that must be addressed right away.

The PAMANA program framework incorporates a peace perspective into the government’s existing poverty reduction and development convergence programs. It is intended to serve as a guide for national and local government agencies, international donors, and non-governmental organizations or institutions involved in CAA program interventions. Such interventions are expected to go beyond the implementation of assistance projects. CAAs, while addressing the root causes of armed conflict, would foster peaceful relations between and among communities and duty-bearers

The government intends to achieve these objectives through good governance. It ensures that services are distributed and utilized responsibly; basic social service delivery occurs in conflict-affected barangays without any obstruction or delay from outside forces such as ethnicity communities are empowered so that they can demand more of their own needs be met locally, putting additional pressure on providers delivering those programs because there will always be someone demanding something better if only thing were paced according to their needs.

Benefits of DSWD PAMANA

The benefits under this program are distributed through highly conflicted areas or communities rather than to individuals. The following are the key initiatives under this program:

  • Addressing the roots of the armed conflict: Poverty

    • The PAMANA program is consistent with the national government’s approach to increasing the synergy of service delivery among national government agencies and local government units in underdeveloped, conflict-affected communities. As they say, when people can put food on the table and provide for their families needs, there is no reason for them to engage in armed conflict. And when people reap the benefits of progress, they are motivated to help others improve their well-being.

  • Empowering Communities

    • Farm-to-market roads, livelihood programs, water supply systems, and environmental protection initiatives are impact-driven projects that will significantly contribute to boosting socioeconomic development in the countryside, particularly in last-mile communities. Through it Community Driven Development Program for Indigenous Peoples, the DSWD through PAMANA implemented several poverty alleviation projects totaling P386,862,000 in 2019. The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples funded educational assistance programs that benefited IP communities as well – but that’s not all; They also assisted in the distribution of medicine smells to those in greatest needs, provided health insurance coverage to ensure that no one goes without when it comes down to simple carelessness or lack thereof, and invested approximately two million pesos in Lumad beneficiaries’ livelihoods, resulting in better living conditions for all.

  • Peace-building training and initiatives

    • The OPAPP has committed itself to facilitating training on Peace and Conflict-Sensitive Programming (PCSP) for key representatives from DSWD Field Offices, and NPMO implementers. This includes basic principles of peace as well as conflict analysis with an emphasis placed on assessing the impacts that violence or other disruptive forces may have had in communities where it occurs.