The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said Tuesday, Oct. 20, it has assessed over 14.4 million families under its “Listahanan 3” or the third round of assessment of poor households in the country.

“Batay sa pinakahuling ulat, mahigit 14.4 milyong mga kabahayan ang na-assess na po sa pagpapatuloy ng ikatlong yugto ng Listahanan,” DSWD spokesperson Irene Dumlao said in a virtual press briefing.

(Based on the latest report, over 14.4 million households have been assessed as we continue the third round of Listahanan.)

The number is 89 percent of the 16.1 million households targeted to be evaluated under the  third-round assessment of Listahanan or the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR). 

Dumlao noted 13, 968,000 household assessment forms or 97 percent of the 14.4 million assessed families have been encoded in the database of the DSWD. 

“Ang mga na-encode na assessment forms ay isasailalim sa tinatawag na proxy means test o PMT sa pagbuo ng paunang listahan ng mahihirap na sambahayan,” she said. 

(The encoded assessment forms will undergo proxy means test or PMT for the generation of an initial list of poor households.)

She explained that the PMT is a statistics model that estimates the income of the households based on the observable characteristics of households, including the type of housing, provision of water and power, and other properties. 

According to the DSWD official, the initial list of poor households will undergo community validation, as it will be posted in every barangay to provide opportunity for the public to review and make corrections on their household information. 

“Bibigyan ng pagkakaton ang publiko na maghain ng hinaing na nauugnay sa Listahanan tulad ng pagwawasto o pag update ng impormasyon ng sambahayan, eklusyon o hindi pagiging kabilang sa Listahanan at paglipat ng tirahan,” Dumlao said.

(The public will be given the opportunity to lodge their complaints in connection with the Listahanan, for corrections or updating of the household information, exclusion or non-inclusion in the Listahanan, and transfer of domicile.)

“Maaaring ihain ang mga hinaing sa pamamagitan ng community desks, at online systems base sa schedlule na ilalabas ng mga Field Offices ng DSWD,” she added, 

(Complaints can be lodged at the community desks or online systems based on the schedule that will be released by the Field Offices of the DSWD.) 

Last month, DSWD Secretary Rolando Bautista said they adopted the PMT model to ensure the reliability of its third-round of assessment of Listahanan, which the agency intends to complete by December this year. 

The Listahanan or the NHTS-PR is an information management system that identifies who and where the poor are.  It is updated every four years.

Bautista said the agency, in partnership with local government units (LGUs), will continuously conduct the Listahanan to cover poor families especially in far-flung areas. 

In a congressional budget briefing on Sept. 16, Bautista said they are targeting to have the final and complete list of poor households in the country by next year.

During the deliberations, DSWD Assistant Secretary for Policy and Plans Joseline P. Niwane said it is a “possibility” that the number of poor families might increase to around 20 million, considering the increasing number of people who lost their jobs because of the pandemic.

The DSWD had clarified that those who were included in the Listahanan 3 are not automatically entitled to receive any cash assistance from the government or be included in any of its programs.

“However, the data that will be generated by the program will be used by national government agencies (NGAs), LGUs, non-government organizations (NGOs), and other institutions as a reference for beneficiary selection to ensure that qualified poor households will be prioritized for poverty alleviation programs and other appropriate interventions,” it said.