The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), through the National Household Targeting Office (NHTO), has formally opened data sharing partnerships to give stakeholders access to Listahanan 3–a database of poor households in the country.

The 3rd National Household Targeting System or Listahanan 3, which was officially launched on Wednesday, Nov. 23, identified 5,599,091 poor households nationwide.

These poor households are the ones that are recommended to receive appropriate programs or services from the government and other developmental organizations.

However, they are not automatically qualified as beneficiaries, as they still have to be assessed based on the respective program criteria.

Listahanan is an information system for identifying who and where poor households are across the country, which can be used as a basis for targeting beneficiaries for social protection programs.

The DSWD began updating the third round of the nationwide household assessment in 2019, pursuant to Executive Order No. 867 series of 2010.

For the third cycle, the NHTO conducted the assessment of 15,487,655 households nationwide.

The DSWD pointed out that all rural households were assessed and households in pockets of poverty in urban areas were included.

It said Listahanan 3 provides other important information that can be helpful to program developers and implementers.

Based on the assessment, 36 out of every 100 Filipino households are poor.

Furthermore, 5.5 percent of the country’s poor farmers are in their old age while five out of 10 indigenous people or IP households are poor.

“With the Listahanan 3 poverty database validated, the department has now deemed it ready for sharing to other national government agencies, local government units, and other organizations/stakeholders which implement social protection programs and services,” the DSWD said.

It expressed hope that through Listahanan 3 data, the resources and funds of the government and other organizations will be spent to help the rightful beneficiaries, which will eventually lead to the improvement of their lives.

In order to protect the information of households on the list and in compliance with the Data Privacy Act, the DSWD ensures that it only provides access to the database based on strict data sharing guidelines and through formal partnerships.