DSWD opens new Twitter account to coordinate disaster relief after hacking attack

AFP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Don’t be the Grinch who stole Christmas.

Thus said the Department of Social Welfare and Development as it appealed to Internet hackers to spare its Twitter account from malicious mischief as it opened a new one to coordinate relief efforts for victims of typhoon Pablo following the hacking of its old account.

Social Welfare and Development Secretary Dinky Soliman announced the new Twitter account,  @DSWDserves, saying the @dswdserve account was hacked months ago by a certain @anonymousphilippines.

“The hackers are confusing the public at this time when we need to be communicating clearly regarding information related to the on-going relief, rehabilitation and other efforts of the government on typhoon ‘Pablo’,” Soliman said.

Soliman said the DSWD’s Information and Communications Technology Management Service has been working with concerned entities for the suspension and termination of the compromised account.

She asked Twitter subscribers to stop following the compromised account and follow @DSWDserves instead.

She also said that all disaster relief and rehabilitation efforts for typhoon “Pablo” victims carry the hash tags #reliefPH and #PabloPH.

Meanwhile, the DSWD, through its poverty-alleviation program – Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), recently released some P27 million in cash grants to its beneficiaries in the Pablo-hit areas of Cateel, Baganga and Boston in Davao Oriental; and Monkayo and New Bataan in Compostela Valley. The cash grants were disbursed for the payroll period of September to October 2012.

For Davao Oriental, DSWD disbursed P4,058,800 to the 1,901 Cateel family beneficiaries; P8,460,700 to 3,876  Baganga recipients; and P2,029,000 to 954 Boston beneficiaries. The payout will be released by Baybank at the respective municipalities last December 13-14 in Cateel and Boston and December 14-15 in Baganga, Davao Oriental.

The department likewise released P7,057,400 grants to 3,742 Monkayo grantees on December 18. While some 2,726 family beneficiaries in New Bataan received P5,528,200 cash subsidy on December 17.

The 4Ps, also known as the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program is a rights-based approach in combating poverty in the country done through the provision of cash grants to identified poor households, on the condition that children up to 14 years old will regularly go to school and that they and their mothers will have regular checkup at health centers.

At present, the program has 176,330 beneficiaries in all four provinces in Davao Region.