The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will launch next month another round of assessment of poor families in Region 12 (Soccsksargen) and parts of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
Cezario Joel Espejo, DSWD-12 director, said Wednesday the preparations are underway for the region-wide survey dubbed “Listahanan” or the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR).
Espejo said results of the assessment will serve as basis for the possible inclusion of more poor families into the government’s anti-poverty programs, including the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps, National Health Insurance Program, social pension program, among others.
“This is in line with the government’s efforts to strengthen the implementation of the social protection programs for the people,” he said in a statement.
Espejo said they will deploy some 2,362 trained workers to carry out the 45-day house-to-house assessment.
He said the survey will cover some 815,343 pre-identified households in Soccsksargen and 556,555 in BARMM.
With the increasing demand from poor families for inclusion in any government program, Espejo urged residents to cooperate and coordinate with their respective barangay officials for the assessment.
“We cannot do this alone that’s why we need the support of our partners in the local government units and other line agencies,” he said.
“Listahanan,” which is updated every four years, is DSWD’s information management system that identifies poor families who will benefit from the government’s social protection programs.
It is also used by other national government agencies and social protection stakeholders as pioneer database of poor families nationwide.
Soccsksargen comprises the provinces of South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and North Cotabato, and the cities of General Santos, Koronadal, Tacurong, and Kidapawan.
DSWD-12’s operational coverage includes Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Cotabato City and Marawi City in the BARMM. (PNA)
