CEBU CITY, Philippines—The Department of Social Welfare and Development in Central Visayas (DSWD-7) clarified that the list of poor households posted in different barangay halls is the initial list for the third round of household assessment also called the Listahanan 3.
The validation activity is done to ensure that the Listahanan 3 database is complete, accurate, and reliable before it is shared with the various stakeholders.
“The list is not yet final. We are still in the validation and finalization phase of the Listahanan 3, wherein the community has the opportunity to review the list’s accuracy,” Regional Director Rebecca Geamala said.
During the fourth quarter of 2019, DSWD conducted the data collection and analysis phase of the Listahanan 3.
“Based on the schedule, the DSWD slated the validation phase of Listahanan 3 in the first quarter of 2020. However, we postponed the activity due to the pandemic,” Geamala explains.
Geamala encourages those poor households who were not yet assessed and were not included in the initial list of Listahanan 3 to file their grievances in their respective barangays or local government units.
She said that the area supervisors will receive complaints and endorses them to the Barangay Verification Team (BVT) and the Local Verification Committee (LVC).
The public can file their complaints through the assigned Listahanan area supervisor during the scheduled date in the barangay hall.
The Listahanan also accepts grievances through the online platform. The complainant can log on at the https://listahanan.dswd.gov.ph/grievance/.
Once endorsed by the LVC, the validators will then reassess the households.
The data gathered during the reassessment will be subjected to the Proxy Means Test (PMT) to determine their poverty status. This activity ensures the integrity of the database before sharing it with other government agencies and social protection stakeholders.
The Listahanan considers households poor if the estimated income is 10 percent above the provincial poverty threshold.
Hilton John Edrial, Listahanan Regional Field Coordinator, said that for Cebu, the provincial poverty threshold is at P21,740 household income per year.
He said that as of the moment, they already assessed 1,012,000 poor family households which will undergo the validation process.
Edrial added that they are targeting to assess 1,068,708 poor family households for Listahanan 3.
/bmjo