For the local government of Cuenca in Batangas Province, self sufficiency means being able to respond to one’s need and for them to attain this, they believe that must with responding to the needs of the poor in their locality.***

 

 

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LISTAHAN FIRMS UP THE REALIZATION OF THE CUENCA’S GOAL.

The idea of being self sufficient is being able to respond to one’s needs.

For the local government of Cuenca in Batangas Province, attaining such as a municipality is their ultimate goal. And for them, achieving such must start in catering to the needs of the poor.

Cuenca Municipal Mayor Celerino Endaya shared that to help his constituents get out of poverty, the local government must be able to provide them with the right programs and services to address the problem.

“Gratefully, we found an instrument to realize our goals through the Listahanan database. Through the list of poor households, we are able to identify who among our constituents still belong below the poverty threshold. In effect, we are able to plan and provide services that they need to get them out of their situation,” shared Mayor Endaya.

The Listahanan is an information management system that identifies who and where the poor are across the country. It databases the list of poor families, which is made available to social protection stakeholders to help in the identification of programs for the poor.

In 2009, during the first round of assessment, the Listahanan identified a total of 1,255 poor households in Cuenca. In March 2012, the local government entered into a data-sharing agreement with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for the use of the list of poor households in their various local government programs.

For the members of the Cuenca local government, their access to the list of poor households has paved way to various improvements towards the achievement of their goal of self-sufficiency.

 

The end of ‘politicking’

Ms. Jellen Macatangay, Municipal Social Welfare and Development Officer, shared that the Listahanan database ended the issues of ‘politicking,’ particularly in the selection of beneficiaries for the different programs of the local government unit (LGU).

“Nawala na ‘yung issue ng pamumulitika rito, wala nang palakasan na nangyayari kapag namimili kami ng mga tutulungan. Nakabase na talaga kami sa listahan,” Macatangay shared.

Macatangay added that though the information in the Listahanan database helps them in the identification of beneficiaries, they continuously validate clients for their inclusion in the programs. Further, she shared that the Listahanan database complements with the Community Based Monitoring System (CBMS) data.

The local social welfare and development office shared that before, they faced issues on the identification of scholars for their Community Assistance for Education (CAE) program, an LGU-funded scholarship program for poor but deserving high school students.

Their access to the Listahan database has allowed them not only to easily identify qualified beneficiaries but also to come up with an impartial list of beneficiaries.

“Bilang social worker, napakahalaga na nakafocus tayo sa tunay na mahihirap sa pagbibigay ng programs and services. Kapag lahat ng oportunidad katulad ng training, livelihood at scholarship ay naibigay mo sa isang mahirap na pamilya, mas malaki ang chances na maging self-sufficient sila sa hinaharap,” said Macatangay.

 

The start of faster services for the poor

The convenience in the identification of qualified households for different social protection programs helped the local social welfare and development office in the faster delivery of services for the clients.

The office cited that from 2012, they experienced a faster release of funds for education, medical and burial assistance because the means of verification of indigence is already available. They are also able to conveniently classify and monitor every client.

As a result, the beneficiaries receive the much needed assistance on time and use such to address their immediate needs. Further, the LGU has also saved a lot of time, effort and funds with the efficient use of the database.

 

Earning credibility and trust from the people

Macatangay shared that convincing the officials on the use of the Listahanan database for the identification of beneficiaries for social protection programs did not become a challenge.

“Ipinaliwanag ko sa mga opisyal at kahit sa mga kapitan dito na ang Listahanan ang magiging basehan ng pagpili ng mga tutulungan. Alam namin dito na importante na kung sino lang ang karapat-dapat ang s’yang bigyan ng tulong. Dahil naniniwala sila sa DSWD, madali na silang nakumbinse,” shared Macatangay.

She added that the use of the database for the impartial selection of beneficiaries has helped them to earn their credibility among the people.

“Dito, nasisiguro naming totoong mahirap ang tinutulungan namin kaya nagtitiwala na sa amin ang mga tao. Dito kasi, malaking sakit ng ulo kapag naglagay ka ng benepisyaryo na hindi karapat-dapat,” she shared.

Macatangay emphasized that these opportunities provided a lot of gains for the LGU.

“Nagpapasalamat kami dahil ito rin ang nakapagpalakas sa aming opisina,” she added.

 

Seeing the effects a little at a time

More than the identification of deserving beneficiaries, the Listahanan database also helped the LGU in planning development programs to achieve self-sufficiency.

When the database revealed a number of out-of-school youth in the locality, the LGU devised and improved programs to address their needs, which includes training and scholarship programs.

The LGU also used the database for the identification of families urgently needing support in times of disasters and families of persons with disabilities to be provided with livelihood assistance under the locally-funded Self-Employment Kaunlaran (SEA-K) program.

According to Macatangay, they are seeing the effects of self-sufficiency in their people starting in the empowered sectoral groups in the locality. These groups, which include women, persons with disability and senior citizens, already take part in the development programs of the LGU.

“We are expecting that sooner, Cuenca would be a self-sufficient municipality where people are living in harmony with God, each other and the environment as what is stated in our vision. We are thankful that the list of poor households continuously helps us in properly directing our resources to the ones who are most in need,” shared Mayor Endaya.***