June 14, 2019 – Upon the completion of the requirements for data sharing, the Department of Social Welfare and Development Field Office 02 (DSWD-FO2) spearheaded by the National Household Targeting Section (NHTS) also known as Listahanan awarded the List of Poor Households in Lal-lo, Cagayan to its Local Government Unit (LGU).

The data requested by LGU Lal-lo will be used to identify the individuals or families in need of the programs and services as well as for the Disaster Risk and Management Plan of the municipality.

Through the Listahanan data, LGU Lal-lo aims to provide necessary aid to households with unsanitary toilet facilities and unsafe water sources, conduct household visits to those who do not regularly go to health facilities, provide assistance or intervention addressing constituents’ education needs and determine job employment, skills, training or investment purposes for career employment.

As stipulated in Executive Order 867, series of 2010, the Department of Social Welfare and Development is mandated to implement the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) to establish a system for identifying who and where the poor households are and serve as the basis in the selection of beneficiaries of social protection programs.

True to its mandate, the DSWD-FO2 is actively advocating the utilization of the Listahanan data to establish an objective targeting system. ### By: Margaret G. Arao, Listahanan Information Officer

Tuguegarao City – As part of the preparation for the Listahanan 3rd Round of Household Assessment that will begin later this year, Director George JT D. Aliño of the National Household Targeting Office (NHTO) led a consultation visit and inspection to the Department of Social Welfare and Development Field Office 02 (DSWD-FO2) last May 24, 2019.

The consultation visit aims to personally motivate field staff working for the National Household Targeting Section (NHTS) for the conduct of the assessment and to personally listen to the issues and concerns of the field office.

In his discussion, Dir. Aliño narrated the process of finalizing what he dubbed as the heart of the Listahanan Project, the Proxy Means Test (PMT), the statistical tool used to identify who and where the poor are based on the data gathered from the household assessment.

Another highlight from Director Aliño’s discussion is the Enhancement of the Listahanan Manuals which is being updated based on the results of the Pilot Test/s and the recommendations from a consultant.

Moreover, a detailed Grievance Redress System shall be incorporated in the Operations Manual which includes the improved Local Verification Committee (LVC) process and a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with DILG to strengthen partnership with barangays.

Director Aliño also presented the timeline of the whole project cycle informing that it was extended from the original 11-month period to 15 months to ensure the quality of data in the final list of poor households.

On the second day of the visit, Dir Aliño went to inspect the encoding station of the NHTS and other possible areas that can accommodate the said process.

Furthermore, the Director believes that Listahanan is the heart of the agency because it is where the list of beneficiaries come from, thus, it should be kept complete, truthful, and accurate. ### By: Margaret G. Arao, Listahanan Information Officer

June 10, 2019 – The field office, through its Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP), recently conducted a training on Mushroom Production at the Department of Agriculture – Southern Cagayan Research Center (DA-SCRC) in Iguig, Cagayan.

The activity, which was conducted in tandem with DA, catered to 14 SLP beneficiaries from two Sustainable Livelihood Program Associations (SLPAs) from the town of Amulung, Cagayan.

The training consisted of modular lecture and hands-on demo to capacitate the participants with needed skills to succeed in the production of mushroom. The topics discussed included the overview and benefits of mushroom production including its varieties.

The DA lecturers who lent their expertise to the skills training were Ms. Merlita M. Collado and Mary Rose Matote, both laboratory technicians of the center.

Ms. Eleanor Tabay, an SLPA member who participated in the training, mentioned how important it was for her and her SLPA to be capacitated with skills that they can soon use to start their own business.

“Agyaman nak iti DSWD ken DA-SCRC ti tulong da kanyami. Nanayunan manen iti adal mi ket isu ti aramaten mi tapnu mapatanur mi nga nasayaat ken agtultuloy daytoy livelihood mi. (I am thankful for the help given to us by DSWD and DA-SCRC. It added to our knowledge which we will use to be able to sustain our livelihood for a long time.)”

The SLP is a program that aims to capacitate poor and marginalized households with skills to be able to engage and maintain a thriving livelihood. ###

The Department of Social Welfare and Development Field Office 02 (DSWD FO2), through its National Household Targeting Unit (NHTU), recently awarded the List of Poor Households in the Municipality of Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya to the local government unit (LGU) of the area.

The list was awarded after a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was signed by the field office and the LGU for the latter to use the data as basis for the social protection programs and/or services that they offer to their constituents.

The LGU mentioned that the list will be of great help as it will aid them in identifying beneficiaries for their social protection programs and services.

The List of Poor Households is the result of the 2nd Round of Household Assessment conducted by the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) or Listahanan from 2015 to 2016.

The Listahanan is a data bank of information that identifies who and where the poor are in the Philippines. It is used by the DSWD as well as other government agencies to identify beneficiaries for social protection programs and services.

The Listahanan was formed for the purpose of having a centralized basis for the identification of social protection program beneficiaries as well as to eradicate issues on beneficiary qualification/s. ### By: Margaret G. Arao, Listahanan Information Officer

June 05, 2019 – The Department of Social Welfare and Development Field Office 02 (DSWD FO2) through its Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT) Regional Project Management Office and the National Household Targeting Unit (NHTU) also known as Listahanan has started conducting another round of pay-out for the 2018 grant of the beneficiaries of UCT-Listahanan in the region which started yesterday, June 4, 2019.

To date, there have already been 35 beneficiaries or 100% paid in the Province of Batanes, 22,500 beneficiaries or 91.67% paid in the Province of Cagayan, 24,527 beneficiaries or 88.38% paid in the Province of Isabela, 3,068 beneficiaries or 90.42% paid in the Province of Quirino and 7,520 beneficiaries or 91.42% paid in the Province of Nueva Vizcaya.

The UCT personnel are also in the process of encoding the Land Bank forms for the beneficiaries’ cash cards which will be used for the 2019 and 2020 grant of beneficiaries. This process aims to make the implementation of the program more efficient and transparent.

During his latest visit to the field office, DSWD Secretary Rolando Joselito Bautista acknowledged the gargantuan tasks that have been given to the agency through its multitude of programs and services but spoke of his confidence in the field office’s staff to be able to carry out the implementation of the latter because of its hard-working staff.

The UCT is a component of the national government’s Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) program that aims to provide indigent Filipinos that will be affected by the rising prices because of the implementation of the new tax reform program with cash subsidies amounting to P200 a month for 2018 and P300 a month for 2019 and 2020.

The agency was given the responsibility of implementing the UCT when it was signed into a law in 2017. ###

June 04, 2019 – The Department of Social Welfare and Development Field Office 02 (DSWD FO2) in partnership with the Social Technology Bureau (STB) of the DSWD Central Office recently conducted an orientation on completed Social Technologies to partner Provincial/Municipal Social Welfare and Development Officers (P/MSWDOs) of the provinces of Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino.

The activity was conducted in two batches, with delegates coming from Cagayan and Nueva Vizcaya scheduled on May 29 to 30, 2019 and May 30 to 31, 2019 for Isabela and Quirino participants.

Among the completed social technologies discussed were the Comprehensive Intervention Against Gender-Based Violence (CIAGV), the Gender Responsive Case Management (GRCM) and the Aruga at Kalinga sa mga Bata sa Barangay which were discussed by Ms. Patricia Ana Y. Quines of the STB.

Mr. Bony Mar M. Lumabao, also from the STB, discussed other completed social technologies such as the Counseling Service for the Rehabilitation of Perpetrators of Domestic Violence (CSRPDV) and the Home Care Support Services for Senior Citizens (HCSSSC).

The activity aims to address issues on Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in the region through the replication of the completed social technologies.

The DSWD, through the leadership of Secretary Rolando Joselito Bautista is aiming for the region to have at least five partner LGUs to replicate any of the five completed social technologies presented for the year, with a focus on making social services more efficient to the needs of the poor and marginalized sectors that they cater to.

Among the social technologies presented, the HCSSSC was already adopted by the province of Batanes earlier this year. Also, of note, the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, which was signed into a law by President Rodrigo Duterte earlier this year, started as a social technology before it became the flagship program of the agency in 2011 due to its usefulness in alleviating the economic situation of its beneficiaries while encouraging the latter to meet the former’s education and health conditionalities to avail of the program. ###

June 03, 2019 – With an eye towards helping the poor and marginalized senior citizens in the region, the Department of Social Welfare and Development Field Office 02 (DSWD FO2) conducted a validation of the beneficiaries of the Social Pension Program for Indigent Senior Citizens from April to May of this year.

The said move is in accordance with the mandate of the agency to ensure that the list of beneficiaries for the above-mentioned program are those that meet the qualifications mandated under Republic Act No. 9994 or Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010.

Under the said law, an elderly who is 60 years old and above is qualified to receive the assistance if he/she is sickly, frail or with disability, without financial assistance or permanent source of income to support his/her daily subsistence and basic medical needs and without any pension from other government or private institutions.

The on-going validation of Social Pension beneficiaries was permitted after the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) granted the petition of the DSWD, in a special En Banc session last March 29, 2019, to acknowledge the routine and normal expenses of the agency in order for the latter to continue implementing its programs and services targeting the poor and disadvantaged sectors during the election period.

DSWD Secretary Rolando Joselito Bautista led the call for validation as part of the agency’s priorities for the year, stating it as one of his priorities to be able to help the poorest sectors of society.

The validation in the region started last April 27, 2019 with the validation papers encoded for data filing which is targeted for completion by June 2019.

Staff from the field office, field workers as well as encoders hired for the endeavor worked long days that also included weekends and even traversed far-flung areas to be able to reach and validate all the beneficiaries.

The quarterly payout of beneficiaries shall resume after the endeavor. Also starting this year, the quarterly scheme for payouts shall be changed to per semester.

The field office is validating 218,659 program beneficiaries in the region across the provinces of Batanes (1,444), Cagayan (77,281), Isabela (101,753), Quirino (13,138) and Nueva Vizcaya (25,043). ###

May 20, 2019 – Just as information is crucial for every organization as a guide in decision-making and problem-solving procedures, the same is just as important for clients to be able to earn their trust and ensure good costumer service.

With this is mind, the Department of Social Welfare and Development Field Office 02 (DSWD FO2) recently installed the Social Marketing Corner, complete with copies of the Pagbangon and Pagsibol Compendium of DSWD FO2 Success Stories, brochures and other Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials about the different programs and services of the agency, artwork of Pantawid Pamilya Regional Children’s Congress participants as well as products of Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) beneficiaries.

The corner is also complete with chairs that clients can use while reading and checking the different information materials of the field office.

The corner aims to give information about the agency’s programs and services as well as display the products of beneficiaries as a way of increasing their marketing opportunity to clients whilst waiting for the completion of their transactions.

The said corner was first used during the launching of the above-mentioned compendiums last April 11, 2019 along with the visit of DSWD Secretary Rolando Joselito Bautista.

It was also re-arranged when it was used as a makeshift studio for the taping of a segment for the DSWD Malasakit program of the Social Marketing Service (SMS) last May 5, 2019 where staff from the Disaster Response and Management Division (DRMD) were interviewed about the implementation of the Emergency Shelter Assistance (ESA) and Cash for Work (CFW) for Typhoon Ompong beneficiaries.

The corner shall undergo additional changes to cater to additional information materials that will be produced by the office for the year. ###