Gov’t asks village residents to help validate list of poor families

MANILA, Philippines – The government is calling on the Filipino public to help validate the initial results of its Listahanan 2nd nationwide assessment that attempts to classify who are the poor among 15.3 million households across the country.

The validation will help the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) arrive at an “accurate, complete, and reliable” final list of poor Filipino families in need of government assistance.

In a statement on Wednesday, November 11, the department said it will post announcements in “conspicuous areas” within barangays (villages), like markets, schools, and churches.

These announcements will ask village residents to check out the lists that are posted at barangay, municipal, and city halls.

If the list seems incomplete, families can notify the barangay’s Listahanan Area Supervisor and appeal. A local validation committee has been organized to act on complaints and appeals from the ground.

Households that appealed but were not part of the 2nd round of assessment will be visited by a Listahanan enumerator, who will interview the families.

“This activity is a very important part of the Listahanan project cycle, especially since the final list will become the basis for identifying those who will become beneficiaries of government programs and services,” Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman said.

The Listahanan is an information management system that makes available to national government agencies, local government units, and other social protection stakeholders a comprehensive list of poor families in need of assistance.

By virtue of Executive Order 867 series of 2010, government agencies are mandated to use the Listahanan database as mechanism to identify who the poor households are and where these recipients of social protection programs are located.

Through this assessment, a new batch of poor and near-poor families will be identified and prioritized for appropriate programs and services. These include the Philippine Health Insurance (PhilHealth) Indigent Program and the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program – the Aquino government’s flagship poverty alleviation project.

It will also enable the department to track changes or developments in the lives of poor households who were identified in the previous assessment. (READ: ‘Enhanced’ system safeguards Pantawid program – DSWD)

In 2009, the DSWD conducted the first nationwide assessment that resulted in the identification of 5.2 million poor households out of the 10.9 million assessed. – Jee Y. Geronimo/Rappler.com