Priceless joys 

“Imagine the joy it brings when you see the smile on their faces as they tell you that you are the first government workers to reach their barangay. It is priceless,” said Jinalyn Ulanghutan, National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) Area Supervisor for the Municipality of Sibuco, Zamboanga del Norte.

Jinalyn and her team, composed of NHTS-PR area supervisors and enumerators, had to climb mountains and cross the seas to reach the 28 barangays of Sibuco to conduct household assessments, including the barangays where residents are hardly familiar with the concept of government.

Once, the group had to battle the tall waves of Sulu Sea to assess one of Sibuco’s coastal barangays. “Some of the enumerators were already crying. They thought we will never make it to the shore,” Jinalyn shared.

But with perseverance, they were able to reach barangay Lakiki and meet its residents. To their surprise, it was actually the first time that people working for the government were able to reach the said barangay.

Jinalyn also shared that she was really surprised when one of the residents asked her who the government is. 

At the end of the day, her team was able to successfully assess the households in the barangay. 

“It was a one of kind experience. We all couldn’t express the joy and fulfilment that we felt as we held on our hands the household assessment forms of the residents of Lakiki. When we went home, with us are the HAFs that could change the lives of these people.”

NHTS-PR conducts series of spot checks 

The National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) National Project Management Office recently conducted spot checks in the provinces of Zamboanga del Norte, Capiz, and Catanduanes.

“We have to continuously check our data and make sure that what we are sharing and will be sharing with other agencies and stakeholders are accurate,” Director Vincent Andrew T. Leyson, NHTS-PR National Project Manager shared.

For the spot checks, the NPMO team visited previously assessed households to conduct re-interviews and check if the guidelines set for conduct of household assessment were followed.

The team randomly identified households to visit and administered the process of household assessment. After this, the data gathered in the household assessment forms are compared to that of in the old household assessment forms. Also, the manner how the household assessments were conducted was also reviewed.

“This is not only our commitment to the project, but more importantly, to our country,” Director Leyson added.

In October 3, 2011, the NHTS-PR is set to formally launch its database. In preparation for this event, the NHTS-PR NPMO and RPMO have implemented several measures to ensure the integrity of the database. The spot check is one of these processes implemented by the project to review and improve the quality of the data gathered.

At present, the project has entered into memorandum of agreements with national government agencies such as the Department of Health (DOH), Philippine Health Insurance, Inc. (PhilHealth), and the Department of Energy (DOE). Several Congressmen and Mayors are also using NHTS-PR data in their respective local government units.

DSWD’s Targeting System Ensures Integrity of List of Poor Households

Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) conducted a nationwide On-Demand Application (ODA) for its National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) project.

The NHTS-PR identifies who and where the poor are through interviews by trained enumerators using a two-page Household Assessment Form (HAF) containing various indicators.

It aims to establish a socio-economic database of households that will be used in identifying the beneficiaries of national social protection programs.

Through the On-demand application, households who were not previously surveyed by enumerators, but are residents of identified areas covered by NHTS-PR, are given the chance to apply for an assessment to be included in the list of poor households that can be qualified for government social protection program.

On-demand Application is one of the vital activities in the DSWD’s effort to ensure that all qualified poor households are captured in the NHTS-PR database.

Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman called on residents of NHTS-PR covered areas to apply for on-demand application especially if they feel that they are qualified to be included in the list of poor households but have been excluded during the first round of assessment. Meanwhile, a projected number of 1,134,870 households in 920 municipalities and cities all over the country were expected to apply for ODA.

Based on initial reports as of October 18, a total of 1,014,623 households from 821 municipalities and cities have applied for assessment. Out of this number, 717,113 applicants were approved for household assessment. To date, 177,933 of the approved applicants were already assessed.

Applications were received by NHTS-PR area supervisors at designated areas within or near municipal or city halls during scheduled dates. Residents were asked to bring any valid identification card (ID) or proof of residency from the barangay. (October, 2010)