Because resources are limited, their use on programs that seek to reduce poverty will have less impact and will be wasted if they do not reach the poor who need them the most. A unified set of criteria for identifying the poor would enable convergence and complementation of social protection programs in addressing the different dimensions of poverty. This will maximize the impact of social protection programs and, at the same time, minimize wastage of resources.

The poor ultimately benefit from the use of Listahanan as it is used by government agencies and other organizations that deliver social protection programs and services. Everyone can access the Listahanan for purposes that aim to assist the poor, subject to DSWD’s data sharing guidelines.

It is by Executive Order 867, Series of 2010 that gave this responsibility to the DSWD. As the leader in social protection and the implementer of key government social assistance programs, it is the Department’s duty to implement policies and programs in the most effective and efficient manner.

Having a targeting system that is based on a scientific, objective, and standard set of criteria to identify the poor is important to achieve DSWD’s goal and mandate.

The mandate of the PSA, then National Statistics Office (NSO) and National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB), is to provide general-purpose statistics that are relevant at the aggregate level. They produce poverty estimates for the region or province, but they will not be able to pinpoint every poor household in that province. This is because the PSA is bound by a confidentiality clause under Section 4 of the terms and conditions of the Commonwealth Act No. 591 (August 19, 1940), which states that the “data furnished to NSO will be kept strictly confidential…”. They cannot disclose who the poor families are in the province and their exact locations, which is what program implementers need in order to extend assistance to these poor families.