Listahanan Validation Slated this October

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office VII through the Listahanan will conduct its validation and finalization phase this month.

“After we conducted the regular household assessment for the past months, we will now post the initial list of identified poor households in all barangay halls in the region,” said Regional Director Mercedita Jabagat.

“Through this activity, the people in the community will be able to scrutinize and review the list and ensure transparency on the result of the assessment,” Jabagat added.

“We will again hire area supervisors to help us implement in the validation phase,” Jabagat divulged.

A Local Verification Committee (LVC) will be formed in each city and municipality to act on complaints and grievances received from the community.

The LVC, whose members include the City/Municipal Mayor, City/Municipal Social Welfare and Development Officer (C/MSWDO), City/Municipal Planning and Development Officer (C/MPDO) and two other representatives appointed by the local chief executive.

The types of complaints or grievances that can be filed during validation are the following:

1. Exclusion Complaint Type 1 – refers to a claim that a specific household should be included in the List of Poor but listed in the Listahanan Database as non-poor; is in the Listahanan Database as non-poor;
2. Exclusion Complaint Type 2 – refers to a claim that a specific household should be included in the List of Poor but was not interviewed during the regular assessment;
3. Inclusion Complaint Type 1 – refers to a claim that a specific household should not be in the List of Poor;
4. Error Complaint Type 1 – refers to a claim that a specific household has incorrect information in the Listahanan Database and
5. Error Complaint Type 2 – refers to a claim that the preliminary List of Poor is incomplete and not representative of the actual number of poor households in the community.

The area supervisor assigned in the particular City/Municipality will receive complaints in the designated areas.

The area supervisor will fill-out the complaint form, which will be signed by the complainant.

Complainant is required to submit a barangay certification attesting residency and if possible any documents supporting his/her complaint.

The area supervisor will consolidate the complaints for submission to the LVC for deliberation.

“We encourage everyone to participate in this undertaking and be vigilant in reviewing the list so that we will have accurate and reliable data of poor families,” Jabagat stated.

The LVC members and the hired area supervisors will be trained on the Listahanan 2nd round of household assessment validation and finalization phase before the conduct of the validation.

For Bohol province, the training is scheduled on October 5-8, Cebu on October 9-10 and 12-13 and for Negros Oriental and Siquijor, October 15-16.

The final list of Listahanan identified-poor families will be established after the validation and finalization phase.

The DSWD through the Listahanan, formerly known as the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR), has undertaken a nationwide assessment to identify the families who will become potential beneficiaries from social protection programs and services of the national government such as the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program. (PR – Kerwin Macopia)