The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said Thursday, May 6, that it is eyeing to complete the "Listahanan 3" or the third round of assessment of poor households in the country within this year.

It said the third National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) also known as Listahanan 3 "now goes through the validation and finalization phase wherein initial lists of poor households (ILPH) are posted in barangays for community review.”

Barangay and local verification teams have so far assessed more than 14.4 million poor households nationwide. Around 16.1 million households are expected to be assessed under Listahanan 3.

The social welfare agency reported that as of April this year, it has received over 3.67 million grievances nationwide.

"Of this figure, 76.22 percent or more than 2.8 million appeals are subject for household re-assessment,” it said.

DSWD-Field Offices VI, Calabarzon, and XII recorded the most number of grievances received nationwide.

"DSWD gives opportunity for the public through community validation to review, make corrections to their household information, and file appeals after the initial list has been posted,” it said.

"The Department further ensures to resolve general inquiry, grievances on exclusion, inclusion complaints, requests for correction of information, and transfer of residence,” it added.

The Listahanan 3 was temporarily suspended due to the pandemic but resumed in June 2020 as supported by Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) Resolution No. 65.

The resolution recognizes Listahanan as a critical government service and considers its field workers as authorized persons outside of residence, and, therefore, allowed for inter-zonal and intrazonal travels.

"The DSWD targets to finish the complete process by the last quarter of year 2021,” the DSWD said.

"Once finalized, the Listahanan can help the government and stakeholders in the private sector identify deserving beneficiaries for their social protection programs and services.”

This is in accordance with the provisions of Executive Order 867, series of 2010, which mandates all national government agencies to use the Listahanan as the centralized database of poor households in the country, it said.

However, the DSWD clarified that the inclusion in the Listahanan 3 does not automatically entitled a household to receive any cash assistance from the government or be included in any of its programs.

"The DSWD remains committed to come up with a credible database so that those most in need of government assistance are reached and served accordingly.”