January 29, 2016 – After months of receiving complaints, validating and verifying the initial list of poor that was released by the Listahanan project, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has concluded the validation activity aimed at securing that the database of poor households in the country will be as accurate and as reliable as possible.

A total of 186,748 complaints from the entire Zamboanga Peninsula region were received by the Listahanan field workers within two months of validation period. 87,200 of which complain that they were assessed by the Listahanan however were not listed as poor; 43,776 say that they were not visited during the regular assessment period; while 52,861 had corrections in their household information; 1,635 complained that certain households should not be included in the list and 1,276 falls under other types of complaints.

Regional Focal Person, Hasan B. Alfad, emphasized in an interview that the Listahanan, however, is not yet allowed to share this initial list of poor to stakeholders as results may still change after the validation. This statement is reiterated after receiving reports from the field workers that some officials in the municipal and/or barangay level want to secure a copy of the initial list of poor.

“Final list of poor will be launched within the first quarter of the year, then data-sharing to partners will follow.” Alfad added.

Once a final database of poor becomes readily available, this will be shared with stakeholders such as the national government agencies, local government units, NGOs, academe and others that provide social protective services. This will become significant for a transparent targeting of beneficiaries of social protective programs.

The DSWD encourages its stakeholders to coordinate with the National Household Targeting Unit (NHTU) for the data-sharing processes.

Currently, the NHTU is consolidating all terminal reports on the validation phase submitted by the field workers for submission to central office.

The Listahanan is glad for the cooperation showed by the respondents  and support given by the various key stakeholders such as the media and LGUs during the validation activity to help generate an accurate database of poor in the region.###