(City of San Fernando, Pampanga) The Department of Social Welfare and Development Field Office III (DSWD FO III) through the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) or Listahanan conducted a consultation dialogue with partner Local Government Units (LGUs) on August 14 in this city.

The dialogue was aimed to encourage the LGUs to submit feedback reports and to promote the Gawad Listahanan.
The participants were the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Officers (MSWDO), Municipal Planning and Development Officers and Technical Assistance and Resource Augmentation (TARA) team leaders.

As stated in the signed Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), the data users must provide regular feedback on data utilization and resolution on complaints regarding beneficiary eligibility.

Meanwhile, Czar Cornelius David PDO IV of Listahanan explained the project cycle and the importance of the feedback report of the partner stakeholders. “We want to know how the database helps each LGU in identifying beneficiaries of their social protection programs and services,” said David.

Since data sharing of the project has been four (4) years now, the DSWD FO III will conduct Gawad Listahanan, an award to recognize the LGUs as data sharer. This is to recognize the data users that provided services to the identified poor. It will serve as an incentive to motivate the LGUs and other social protection stakeholders to continue using the database as basis for selecting beneficiaries of their social protection programs and services.

The Gawad Listahanan aims to recognize LGUs as the Department’s data sharing partners and advocates of objective targeting of social protection beneficiaries. It also confers award to LGUS for providing services and assistance to theListahanan-identified poor families.

Regional Deputy Project Manager Lalaine De Leon thanked the MSWDOs and MPDOs for the support that they extend to the project.

The participants also signed in the commitment board of Listahanan. This is one way of showing their support to the project. “Listahanan – tamang panukat, pantay at pamantayan ng programa’t serbisyong magbibigay kaunlaran sa kalagayan ng bawat maralita… DSWD mabuhay ka..,” wrote Josephine Labasbas, MSWDO of Baliuag, Bulacan.

The event was capped by the awarding of Listahanan database to the newly partner stakeholders who signed MOA with DSWD-Listahanan. To date, there are 65 municipalities, six (6) cities, four (4) provinces, and four (4) congressional districts who already signed MOA with DSWD on Listahanan.

Listahanan is an information management system that identifies who and where the poor are nationwide. (Alexis Myer I. Delicano)