The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) recently conducted the annual assessment of its beneficiaries known as the Social Welfare and Development Indicator (SWDI) assessment. This aims to determine the social and economic wellbeing of the family-beneficiaries to be able to provide appropriate interventions needed. Annually, the 4Ps field implementers facilitate the assessment in accordance to the guidelines of Case Management. By doing such, the program is able to come up with interventions that not only address the immediate concerns but even more so tries to identify the root cause of the problem.

In view of this, the Policy Development and Planning Bureau (PDPB), with its mandate to ensure quality service delivery of the Department, conducted a spot-check on the execution of SWDI assessment in identified areas across the country.

One of the identified Field Offices to be conducted a spot-check at is the Field Office IX particularly targeting areas with high number of beneficiaries found to be non-poor by the Listahanan 3^rd round of household assessment.

With this, the PDPB requested for assistance from the 4Ps Regional Program Management Office (RPMO) for an organized spot-check activity in the following areas in Zamboanga Del Sur:

• Pagadian City
• Municipality of Dumalinao
• Municipality of Pitogo
• Municipality of Vincenzo Sagun

The assessing team was composed of four (4) PDPB staff from the national office and one (1) Planning Officer from the regional office of the DSWD.

The team arrived at Pagadian airport on September 11, Monday. An orientation was conducted with the Zamboanga Del Sur field implementers on the purpose, schedule, and tasks of each person involved. Present during the orientation were the 4 assessing members of the PDPB, the Planning Officer from the regional office, Elvis Abaño, the Zamboanga Del Sur Provincial Operations Office (POO) headed by the Provincial Link Kathleen Geron and the SWOs III, the SWADT Leader Edward Espinosa, Case Management Focal Hazel Manalang, and Information Officer Fung Kay Choi.

In summary, the assessing team needed to interview program encoders, observe actual SWDI assessment, and re-interview households in the identified areas to be conducted by the PDPB.

The main objective of the activity is to observe how the assessment is being conducted and to see what improvements can be made in the assessment tool.

Some major observations were noted such as:

• The C/MLs use a friendly approach and tone during the SWDI assessment.
• The C/MLs, even the newly-hired ones, are adept in accomplishing the SWDI tool.
• Some C/MLs tend to forget to introduce themselves before the SWDI assessment. This may probably because they are used to the fact that the beneficiaries mostly know their C/MLs already.
• At times, the C/MLs ask leading questions to help the beneficiaries express their thoughts and/or recall their answers.
• Parent Leaders who served as guides often answer on behalf of the beneficiary being interviewed.

The PDPB will submit a final and comprehensive observation report to the regional office once finalized by the national office.