Malacañang said the  National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) or the "Listahanan" of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has been recognized as a critical government service of the government's pandemic task force.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque, in an announcement over state-run PTV-4, said the Inter-agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases has ratified the recognition of the said program as a critical service during its meeting on Thursday.

According to Roque, this would mean that DSWD workers under the Listahan are now considered as Authorized Persons Outside Residence (APORs) and will now be allowed to cross borders during the quarantine period.

"Surveyors, enumerators, and/or supervisors of the DSWD Regional Offices are considered authorized APORs and should be allowed inter-zonal and intrazonal travel," he said.

"They are allowed to travel in such mode and/or manner as may be available so they may be able to do their duties," he added.

The Listahanan is an information management system that employs geographic targeting, household assessment, and validation to provide national government agencies, development partners, and other social protection actors with information on who and where the poor are in the country.

This information is then used for the identification and selection of potential beneficiaries for various poverty alleviation and social protection programs.

Returning residents

Roque also announced that the IATF has adopted as a national policy the directive to all local chief executives to undertake all necessary actions to accept, receive, and manage residents who will be returning to their respective jurisdictions during the pandemic.

The directive applies to all provincial governors, city and municipal mayors, and barangay chairmen.