Presidential Decree No. 1564, otherwise known as the Solicitation Permit Law, mandates any person, corporation, organization, or association desiring to solicit or receive contributions for charitable or public welfare purposes to first secure a permit from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

Public solicitation is being regulated to obviate illegal fund drives and to protect the general public from unscrupulous solicitation. This also ensures that the collected funds will proceed to its intended purpose and beneficiaries.

ANYONE who intends to conduct public solicitation activities for charitable and public welfare purposes may apply for Public Solicitation permit.

The authorized representative/s may apply through the DSWD HELPS.

No. Not all solicitation activities are required to secure a permit. Only the solicitation activities that will satisfy the following criteria are required to secure a permit:

1. If the solicitation proceeds will be solicited from the general public, within the Republic of the Philippines;
2. If the purpose of the public solicitation falls under charitable or public welfare purposes.

These are the purposes that would qualify a public solicitation to require a permit.

Charitable purpose refers to the intent to provide services for the improvement of the quality of life of the beneficiaries, specifically those who are poor, vulnerable, and disadvantaged sectors or entities or persons, families, groups, or communities in distress and difficult situations.These activities may include but are not limited to the promotion of health, education, peace, social welfare, environmental protection, and disaster relief and rehabilitation response, among others.

Public Welfare Purpose refers to any activity or project related to health, education, peace, social welfare and protection, environmental safety, rights, security and safety of citizens, and similar circumstances or conditions.

DSWD Memorandum Circular No. 09 series of 2024 or the "Revised Guidelines in the Processing and Issuance of Regional and National Solicitation Permits" only covers any project or activity intended to generate funds from the general public for social, public welfare purposes, and charitable purposes. Hence, the conduct of in-kind solicitation is not regulated under the DSWD existing guidelines.

However, any act or activity that insinuates monetary donation such as a donate button and visible bank details on any social media platforms, visible online wallet, and the like even though its purpose is for buying goods is still considered a solicitation of funds. With this, securing a Public Solicitation Permit is necessary to continue this kind of activity as stated in the said circular.

No. Donation is a voluntary act intended by the donors or sponsors out of their goodwill and generosity which is not regulated by the Department. On the other hand, Public Solicitation refers to any activity or project intended to ask the public for funds, money, materials, or other assistance for charitable and/or public welfare purposes that need to be regulated to obviate the illegal fund drives and to protect the general public from unscrupulous solicitation.

DSWD Memorandum Circular No. 09 or the "Revised Guidelines in the Processing and Issuance of Regional and National Solicitation Permits" only covers solicitation activities conducted within a region or nationwide. Regional Public Solicitation refers to solicitation activity that is conducted in more than one (1) local government but within a region, while National Public Solicitation refers to solicitation activity conducted in more than one (1) region within the Philippines.

You may inquire with your Local Government Unit if you intend to conduct a solicitation activity within your city/municipality or community.

Yes. The concerned entity issued with a Solicitation Permit must submit the full details of the List of Donors and List of Beneficiaries as part of their post-reportorial. The DSWD allows inputs such as “anonymous” or “not applicable”, however, it may be considered only if the donation of a specific donor is less than Php500,000.00. Should the donation be greater than the said amount, the donation must be deposited in the entities’ bank account.

No, per V. General Policies of MC. 09 s. 2024 under the Prohibited Activities, any person or agency issued with a solicitation permit shall not utilize solicited funds for programs, projects, or activities other than those stated in their application.

All applications for Solicitation Permit must be submitted through the DSWD HELPS. But the following may be considered:

  - Walk-in applications may be accepted ONLY in the event of both system failure/downtime and internet inaccessibility or State of Calamity/State of Public Health Emergency. Application must be submitted through the FO or the SB email address. FOs may assist the applicant in sending the application documents to the SB.

  - In cases of system failure, SB shall make an official announcement regarding the matter and only then applicants may submit their application documents along with the proof of payment in the official email address of SB.

Under normal situations, the processing time is seven (7) working days while during a State of Calamity/State of Public Health Emergency, the processing time is three (3) working days, upon receipt of the application in the DSWD HELPS.

Kindly take note that only applicants who have submitted the complete requirements shall be processed by the DSWD.

The issued solicitation permit shall be valid only on the approved date of coverage by the DSWD Secretary where its validity shall not exceed one (1) year subject to renewal. The validity of the permit depends on the type of issued permit:

Regular Permit - one (1) year

Temporary Permit - six (6) months

The DSWD HELPS will automatically generate electronic payment orders. A fee of Php 500 (for a regional solicitation permit) or Php 1,000 (for a national solicitation permit) shall be charged. The processing fee is non-refundable whether your application is approved or disapproved.

Note: Processing fees for regional or national solicitation permits during a state of national or regional calamity shall be waived in favor of the applicant.

There are two (2) types of permit per MC 9, s. 2024.

Regular Permit - refers to a permit (national or regional) issued to any person or entities intending to conduct public solicitation activities during a normal situations without declaration from appropriate authorities.

Temporary Permit - refers to a permit (national or regional) issued to any person or entities responding to a disaster or calamity upon the declaration of a State of Calamity/State of Public Health Emergency.

Any entities/person issued with valid regular permit can still apply for Temporary Public Solicitation Permit specific to disaster response through the DSWD HELPS.

Our goal is to provide quality services to the public. If you have inquiries, concerns, or clarifications about the process of obtaining a public solicitation permit, the best thing to do is to directly contact the Standards Bureau through telephone numbers (632) 8951-7125 / 8931-3181 or email address at sb@dswd.gov.ph.

Our technical staff will be happy to assist you immediately and resolve any problems you may have experienced.

We aim to resolve all queries within seven (7) working days unless there are unforeseeable circumstances.

Below is the list of requirements per type of applicant:

Should the application be disapproved, the applicant has 30 calendar days to re-apply free of charge following the same application procedure. However after the given timeline and no re-application is received, the processing fee will be applied again upon application.

Below is the list of requirements per type of applicant:

- Renewal application may be facilitated if the entity has utilized 70% of its total accumulated funds provided that there is (a) an action plan on the disbursement of the 30% unutilized funds subject to monitoring and (b) an undertaking for the submission of the post-facilitation requirements after fully utilizing the accumulated funds.

- To prevent the cessation of their solicitation activities, the agency may submit prior to the expiration of their permit an Undertaking to submit the post-facilitation requirements for them to file for renewal of their permit.

- If you are a Private SWDA, a valid CRLTO is also required upon renewal.

- Applicant may apply for renewal of their public solicitation activity by submitting an undertaking for renewal through HELPS where the applicant may input their action plan on utilizing the said unutilized funds

The following are the information that can be amended/changed/updated:

A. Applicant’s Information

   - Person

   - Non-government Organization, Civil Society Organization, Faith-based Organization, Social Welfare & Development Agency (SWDA), Groups (Organized and Unorganized)

B. Beneficiaries

C. Coverage

D. Methodology

E. Program Project or Service to be delivered

Note:

- The amended solicitation permit shall have the same validity period as the previously issued permit.

- Applicants may apply for amendment twice only within the validity of their permit.

- Amendments shall be facilitated for public solicitation permits with a remaining validity period of not less than two (2) months.

Below is the the list of requirements per type of applicant for amendment.

Yes, these are the requirements that need to be uploaded through the DSWD HELPS account.

A. For a person and unorganized group, the following must be submitted through the DSWD HELPS within sixty (60) days upon the expiration of its permit:

• Fund Utilization Report (FUR) (Annex J) sworn by the person/individual issued with a solicitation permit or head of the endorsing LGU/SWDA. It shall be supported by the medical certificate/abstract duly certified by the attending physician and receipts issued in buying medicines and/or the conducted medical procedure.
• List of donors, their corresponding addresses and contact numbers, and the amount of donation/s in accordance with the provisions of RA 10173 or the Data Privacy Act, as applicable.
• If a permit is unused, a sworn justification for not pursuing the fund campaign within the validity period and that the solicitation permit was not utilized.
• Notarized Declaration Form (Annex C).

B. For a SWDA, corporation, organization, or association, the following must be submitted through the DSWD HELPS within sixty (60) days upon the expiration of its permit:

• FUR (Annex J), in accordance with the National Government Auditing System if the soliciting entity is a government agency, or sworn to by the agency head and treasurer if the soliciting entity is a non-government organization. Said FUR shall be included in the Audited Annual Financial Report, which shall be submitted through the DSWD HELPS one hundred and twenty (120) days after the end of every fiscal year;
• List of donors, their corresponding addresses, contact numbers, and the amount of donation/s, as applicable and in accordance with the provisions of RA No. 10173;
• List of individual beneficiaries, their corresponding addresses, contact numbers, and the amount and type of assistance received in accordance with the provisions of RA No. 10173;
• List of groups, centers, organizations, associations, or agencies that benefited from the proceeds of solicitation activity as represented by their Head, President/Leader, Chairman of the Board, etc., their addresses and contact numbers in accordance with the provisions of RA No. 10173;
• If the permit is unused, the following shall be submitted to the SB:
  1. Justification for not pursuing the fund campaign within the validity period;
  2. Sworn Statement/Certification from the Representative of the Group or Head of the Agency that such permit for the proposed solicitation activity was not used/utilized.

Note:

- If the solicited funds are not fully distributed/utilized per approved application, the person or entity shall submit a status report of the funds monthly until all the solicited funds are utilized but not more than sixty (60) days period. The post-facilitation requirements must be complied with after full utilization of funds. Failure to utilize/distribute solicited funds even after the six (6) months grace period, shall be a ground for non-renewal of the solicitation permit.

If the solicited funds exceed your target amount or have accumulated excess funds, you shall submit a utilization plan for the excess funds or a report on the utilization of excess funds at least 60 days prior to the expiration of the permit. Non-submission of the utilization plan or report on excess funds shall be a ground for non-renewal of solicitation permits.

Any person found violating the provisions of Presidential Decree 1564 shall upon conviction, suffer the penalty of imprisonment of not more than 1 year or a fine of not more than P1,000.00 or both such imprisonment and fine, at the discretion of the court. However, if the offending party is a group, corporation, organization, or association, the penalty shall be imposed upon the guilty officer/s. And, if such guilty officer/s is/are alien, he/she/they shall be deported after serving a sentence without further proceedings.

Yes, the concerned Field Office/s (FOs) may:

1. Provide appropriate technical assistance (TAs) accordingly, or

2. Endorse the complaint/violation through an official memo addressed to DSWD-SB