Lucena City Council supports Listahanan utilization in the locality

The Committee on Social Welfare of the Sangguniang Panlungsod of Lucena City recently committed to endorse a resolution to the council for the utilization of the Listahanan database of the poor in the locality.

During a hearing presided by City Councilor Atty. Rhaetia Marie C. Abcede-Llaga last January 11, 2018, the Committee agreed to endorse a resolution that would authorize City Mayor Roderick A. Alcala to enter into a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Department of Social welfare and Development for the utilization of the Listahanan database. The said endorsement was made after the committee members sought clarification on the processes involved in coming with the list of poor families under the Listahanan targeting system.

Mr. Andres Sibal, the regional coordinator of the Listahanan targeting system based at DSWD Field Office IV-A, provided the explanation to inquiries of the committee members.  He also explained the contents of the MOA and the need to undertake such.

Listahanan, formerly known as the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR), is the information management system that aims to identify who and where the poor are in the country.  The masterlist of poor families, which the Listahanan generates, is used by the Department as basis for identifying beneficiaries of programs and services for the poor, such as the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program and the Social Pension Program.

The Department is also advocating to local government units to utilize the same masterlist of poor family to ensure that the assistance being provided to them have a bigger greater impact. A MOA between the Department and the requesting or utilizing agency is undertaken to ensure data security and protect clients’ privacy, among others.

Upon the Sangguniang Panlungsod’s approval of the resolution and the eventual signing of MOA between the City of Lucena local government unit and the DSWD through the Field Office IV-A, the local government unit is expected to implement programs and services for the poor utilizing the database of poor families generated under Listahanan 2.  Listahanan 2 is the updated list of poor families that was generated during the 2015 household assessment.***