It was Vice President Leni Robredo who first broke the news that former Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Corazon "Dinky" Soliman passed away Sunday.
FORMER Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Corazon "Dinky" Soliman passed away on Sunday morning.
She was 68 years old.
Vice President Leni Robredo confirmed the news during her radio show Sunday, while Soliman’s family has yet to issue an official statement.
"May napakalungkot na balita na natanggap na si former DSWD Secretary Dinky Soliman, namayapa na ngayong umaga," Robredo said, adding that she was very close to Soliman.
Soliman served twice as the secretary of DSWD during the terms of former Presidents Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, who also passed away this year.
During Arroyo’s presidency, she was part of the so-called “Hyatt Ten” group of government officials who resigned from their posts in 2005, accusing the Arroyo administration of widespread corruption and cheating in the 2004 elections.
Soliman led the launch of the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR), which identifies who and where the poor Filipinos are through identification and validation.
It was during her second term under Aquino that the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), a conditional cash transfer program for the poor which was started during the Arroyo administration, was expanded and institutionalized.
Soliman graduated from the University of the Philippines and Harvard University.
Aside from serving in government, Soliman also held posts in several organizations such as Caucus for Development NGO Networks, National Secretariat Coordinator of the Congress for People’s Agrarian Reform, and Community Organization Training and Research Advocacy Institute (CO-TRAIN).
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