Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian appealed to the public to stop making Rose—the woman who went viral for crawling out of a Makati sewer—the focus of ridicule by posting negative comments, jokes, and memes in the “wild west” of social media.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) chief in a radio interview reminded the public, particularly netizens, that words can hurt and further cause harm to vulnerable people wanting to change their lives.
“On Sunday night, her case manager whispered to me that Rose and her partner are also hurting. They said they did not ask for the P80,000. She didn’t go to the drainage on purpose because she wasn’t the one who approached us. It was just a coincidence that she was pictured,” Gatchalian said in Filipino.
“It was disbursed in tranches and closely monitored by a licensed social worker. In fact, the social worker accompanied her to buy the initial inventory for her small store,” he added.
Gatchalian said reaching out to Rose and others who are in the same plight is the very reason why the DSWD’s Pag-abot Program was institutionalized through Executive Order 52 in 2024 and has become a department priority.
He stressed that Rose’s case was not unique, citing over 5,000 individuals and families assisted under Pag-abot.
The provision of P80,000 in livelihood assistance to Rose was also based on the assessment of the social worker handling her case and was well within the guidelines set by the program, with the cash aid ranging from a minimum of P10,000 and a maximum of P80,000.
“Right now, you can see that the issue is becoming a meme, her story. She (Rose) said I hope you don’t make her story a joke. She is hurt. In fact, she knows everything that is happening,” Gatchalian said.
“My appeal is that if we, under the DSWD, are the ones who are asked, we are the ones who are questioned, we are the ones who become the subject of memes, we accept it. Because that’s part of public service. We have an obligation to answer. But not the victim because the victim has been through that a lot. Especially those like Rose who live on the street,” he added.
Responding to criticisms that Rose was referred to as an “honorary social worker,” Gatchalian clarified that no official title had been conferred: “That was a symbolic gesture by one of our social workers who saw in her the values of a good social worker, empathy, compassion, altruism.”
