Legazpi City – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office V will be releasing the updated list of poor households this month. This list is the result of the Listahanan 3 household assessment conducted last October 2019 to February 2020.

The agency has already started the validation activities which include training of field staff and will be followed by orientations to the local government units (LGUs) on the methods and procedures of the validation.

DSWD Regional Director Arnel Garcia said that for this validation, there are two ways where the community can send their appeals or inquiries which can be (1) via online, through the Listahanan website, or (2) thru the community desks at the barangay level.

“As soon as the initial lists of poor households are posted, receiving and resolving of complaints will immediately commence”, said Dir. Garcia.

Listahanan Area Supervisors will be deployed in all barangays of the region to receive and process grievances from the community.

During validation, the lists of poor households will be posted in conspicuous places in each barangay for 7-10 calendar days where the community is given a chance to check and review the said list. It is also at this time where they can contest any incorrect or misreported information.

Meanwhile, the schedule of filing and receiving of grievances online will start as soon as the initial lists of poor are already posted in the respective barangays. However, the end date shall be the same as the schedule via community desks.

Grievances filed beyond the set timeline in a specific barangay shall no longer be processed.

SIGNIFICANT ROLE OF THE LGUS DURING VALIDATION

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) recognized Listahanan as a critical government service. Thus, they crafted policy support for Listahanan 3 to continue its activities during this national health emergency while ensuring the safety and health standards of its personnel.

Based on the IATF-EID Resolution No. 65, Series of 2020, Listahanan surveyors, enumerators, and/or supervisors of the DSWD Regional Offices will be considered as authorized persons outside of residence (APOR) and will be allowed to travel interzonal and intrazonal in such modes and/or manner as may be available especially in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDA).

One critical component of the Validation Phase is the creation of verification teams at the local level. This includes the Barangay Verification Team (BVT) at the barangay level and the Local Verification Committee (LVC) at the City/Municipal Level. These committees will ensure that all appeals or grievances received in their localities are resolved in the given timeline.

“When our field workers receive complaints from the community, they do not know the people from the ground. It is the barangay leaders and LGU officials who know their constituents well. Hence, the role of the verification teams is hugely crucial to determine valid grievances and false complaints.” said Dir. Garcia.

Once all grievances are consolidated and resolved, the assigned enumerator shall make unannounced home visits and interview the households. After which, data entry into the system shall follow and will then generate the final list of poor households.

Consistent with Executive Order 867, the updating of the Listahanan database of poor families shall be done every four (4) years. The last household assessment was conducted in 2015 where DSWD had identified 372,451 poor households out of the 1,082,582 households assessed in the Bicol region.

Listahanan is the DSWD’s information management system that aims to establish a database of poor households that will become beneficiaries of social protection programs. #crbarrameda