They did not ask for credit. They just kept going. And now, they are seen.
Apayao’s quiet but unrelenting work in the field of social welfare did not go unnoticed at the 74th Founding Anniversary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development – Cordillera Administrative Region (DSWD–CAR), held April 4, 2025, in Baguio City.
The Provincial Government of Apayao (PGA) through its Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO), took home multiple awards under the PANATA KO SA BAYAN incentive program including three first-place distinctions that no other province matched this year.
But for Governor Elias C. Bulut, Jr., the moment was not about trophies.
“Let me begin by saying that this is not my award. This is Apayao’s. This is every barangay health and social worker who walks muddy trails. Every MSWDO who has been called at midnight. Every farmer who shared his harvest with a neighbor. Every mayor who kept the lights on in the most difficult months. This is for the people who did not ask for credit, but kept showing up anyway,” the governor said in a message delivered by Chief of Staff Verlie Mae Baldovino.
Apayao clinched the Paglaray Award for pushing social welfare legislation forward. It also ranked First Place in the Gawad Serbisyong Mapagkalinga and Gawad Serbisyong Masigasig, leading the entire Cordillera in service delivery performance under the provincial category.
The Gawad Serbisyong Matapat, recognizing LGUs committed to quality social welfare systems and continuous assessment, also went to Apayao earning it a spot among the region’s top performers.
In his statement, the governor singled out not just the PSWDO, but the entire web of people and agencies that make the system work from local social workers to regional staff.
“To the DSWD thank you. You have always been more than a national agency to us. You have been a co-pilot in some of our hardest missions. Relief ops in flooded barangays, food packs hauled across rivers, 4Ps grievances resolved without drama none of that is possible without a partner that listens, adjusts, and gets things done. You have done that. And we saw it,” he said.
He also acknowledged SWAD-Apayao, previously led by Gretchen Garcia, for helping implement high-impact programs like the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS) and Ayuda para sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP), calling them lifelines for many in crisis.
“These programs were not confined to a few. They reached people without discrimination. That is what we mean when we say this is Apayao,” the governor added.
The word he used to describe the partnership: kaddua an Ilocano term for someone who walks with you, especially when the road disappears.
The awards will not be displayed as decoration, he said, but as a reminder that when the government walks with its people, listens without agenda, acts without delay there is nothing it cannot repair.
From Calanasan’s farthest sitio to Pudtol’s riverbanks, the governor said the promise remains, “We are not done.” By Jess Christley Marquez
