The new head of the Department of Social Work and Development (DSWD) is a University of the Philippines professor and an activist who was a veteran of several street protests.
Secretary Judy Taguiwalo said she is proud to be appointed by president-elect Rodrigo Duterte as she has decided to join government to serve from inside the administration’s Cabinet. She however said would remain critical of the government but air her grievances in a forum different from the streets of protests.
She would not stop the implementation of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino program (4Ps) or conditional cash transfer, but instead study its implementation to see to it that it is not used for politics. She said she would still oppose the burial of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani. She was one of the victims of martial law and was tortured and imprisoned during the Marcos regime.
