Legazpi City—The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Bicol through the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction or Listahanan resumes its household enumeration this week to update the agency’s poverty database.

As of December 31, 2019, the agency had assessed 842,992 households or 74% of the 1,143,846 target households to be assessed. The remaining number of households still to be interviewed is targeted to be completed this March.

It can be recalled that DSWD started the house to house interview last October 2019. The conduct of household assessment every four years for database updating is stipulated under Executive Order 867 series of 2010.

The validation activity will be conducted after the assessment scheduled from May-July 2020. It is in this phase where the initial list of poor households will be generated and will be posted in conspicuous places at the barangays for the community to validate. Households who were not visited during the regular assessment will be given a chance to appeal and be assessed.

Meanwhile, Director Garcia explains that Listahanan does not determine additional beneficiaries nor delist households under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), the DSWD’s poverty alleviation program which provides conditional cash grants to the poorest of the poor, to improve the health, nutrition, and the education of children aged 0-18.

“Listahanan is an information management system that identifies who and where the poor are. It serves as the repository of data of poor households which serves as a reference in identifying potential beneficiaries of social protection programs such as the 4Ps, Philhealth, among others”, explained Garcia.

The Listahanan 3 final list of poor households is expected to be released by August 2020.