FOLLOWING the resumption of the validation phase for the third-round of assessment of Listahanan or the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR), the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) announced 14,301,494 or 88.7 percent of the 16.1 million households have already been assessed.
Listahanan is an information management system that aims to establish a database of poor households that will serve as a basis of the department in the identification of beneficiaries for its different social protection programs and services.
Listahanan was also recognized by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) as a critical government service.
During the regular press briefing of Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque in August, he said based on the IATF-EID Resolution No. 65, Series of 2020, Listahanan “surveyors, enumerators, and/or supervisors of the DSWD Regional Offices will be considered as authorized persons outside of residence (Apor) and are allowed to travel inter-zonal and intrazonal in such mode and/or manner as may be available especially in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas.”
The IATF-EID resolution provides policy support for Listahanan 3 to continue its activities during the pandemic while ensuring the safety and health standards of its personnel.
In June, the data collection, encoding and validation activities for Listahanan 3 officially resumed after it was temporarily halted to adhere to the government’s health and safety protocols to mitigate the impacts of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
The Department will release the initial list of poor households that will be posted in the communities for the validation and finalization phase of the program. The list will be posted in visible places in barangays to provide an opportunity for the public to review and confirm their household information. Grievances may also be filed through the community desk or online through the Listahanan website on scheduled dates identified by respective DSWD field offices.
DSWD also reiterated inclusion to Listahanan will not guarantee any provision of cash aid or automatic inclusion to any program of the government. However, the data gathered will be used as a reference for beneficiary selection and prioritization for poverty alleviation programs and other interventions by national government agencies, local government units, and other institutions.