Normita Parzuelo owns a lugawan in Barangay Poblacion in Sariaya, Quezon Province. For her, what helped improve her family’s living condition was being identified as one of the poor households in the Listahanan survey last 2009.

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Forty-year-old Normita Parzuelo now owns a lugawan in Barangay Poblacion in Sariaya, Quezon Province. For her, being identified as one of the poor households in a survey conducted last 2009 helped improve their lives.

With 3 children, Normita and her husband would often ask for help from her mother-in-law for their daily expenses. Her husband earns Php140.00 in a day’s work as a maglelechon and Php150.00 at night in assisting in her mother-in-law’s sari-sari store.

“Hindi. Hindi talaga sapat,” Normita reiterates.

For their meals, Normita buys one kilo of rice a day and makes it last for 2 meals. They don’t eat breakfast.  For the education of 3 children, all of them study in a public school and her husband’s daily income, Php150.00 automatically goes to the children’s allowance.  For other school expenses, they often ask for help for her mother-in-law.

In 2009, the Department of Social Welfare and Development conducted a household assessment nationwide under the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) or now known as Listahanan. Its objective is to determine who and where the poor are in every locality.

“Nung dumating sila dito, sinagot ko lang naman sila sa mga tanong nila. Wala namang masamang mapasali ka sa survey, mayayabang yung iba na hindi nagsabi ng totoo na mahirap sila kaya hindi sila napasali sa listahan ng mahihirap,” explains Aling Normita.

The family of Aling Normita was one of the poor households identified by the Listahanan in the locality, and eventually was identified as one of the the beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program.  Like other beneficiaries of the program, her family receives subsidy for the educational and health needs of children upon compliance to the set program conditions.

Because the couple put importance to education, all of their children are now enrolled in a private high school, which is nearer to their place compared to the public school.  The expenses, which basically is same amount as studying in a public school, is taken from the subsidy received under the Pantawid Program.

“Napakalaking tulong ang mapasali sa survey. Dahil kung wala kami sa survey ay balagot kami sa utang.” Normita added.

Because the subsidy they received now responds to a big part of their daily expenses, Normita was able start a lugawan business last September 2013.  It was originally owned by her sister-in-law and now, it serves as a source of income for the family’s other daily expenses.

As a mother, Normita shares that she hopes that her children will finish school and that they can support their children all throughout.

“Sana po ay mapasali pa din kami sa susunod na survey. Kung hindi man, maraming salamat pa rin. Malaki na ang naitulong sa amin ng pagkakasali namin sa listahan ng mahihirap. Makakaya namin. Pagsisikapan po,” shares Normita.

From being identified as poor, the support and assistance they received helped improved the living a condition of Normita’s family. Her family is only one of the many Filipino poor households whose lives improved and it all started from the Listahanan targeting system.***