By Chito Chavez
Irked by uncooperative barangay officials, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Undersecretary for Barangay Affairs Martin Diño on Tuesday warned them of the strictest possible sanctions for repeatedly failing to comply with the lawful social welfare agency's household data collection drive.
Diño reminded the stubborn barangay officials of their mandate to facilitate the “Listahanan’’ campaign which is the data collection system of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
Under “Listahan’’, the government will now identify who and where the poorest households in the 42,000 barangays in the country are located.
On Monday, the DILG and the DSWD launched the third assessment of the Listahan, or the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR).
Diño demanded full cooperation from barangay officials and the community members as the Listahan was initiated to improve the government’s delivery of basic public services.
He stressed that under no circumstances should barangay officials object, neglect or set aside their responsibility in supporting the Listahan campaign launched by the national government.
To recall, the DILG admitted that there had been extreme difficulty to sway the adherence of barangay officials in past assessments due to the lack of understanding in dealing with the deployed DSWD field workers.
Diño asked barangay officials to simply assist the DSWD field personnel but never to interfere with the data collection process.
He noted that he would request DILG Secretary Eduardo Año to release a circular to compel local governments to participate in this process to prevent sanctions.
With an allocation of P2.7-billion, some 36,000 field personnel were dispatched in the country for this year's “Listahan’’ campaign where 16.1 million household have been targeted.