DAVAO City- The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office XI is now preparing for the second round region wide household assessment through the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTSPR).

“We are targeting 793,770 households to be assessed by September this year,” NHTSPR Regional Field Coordinator Elvie Bahinting said.

“This is a saturation assessment and to immediately implement this, we will be hiring 1,654 enumerators, 331 area supervisors, 67 area coordinators, 330 encoders and 66 verifiers,” Bahinting added.

Schedule for interview of applicants is July 17-18 in Davao Oriental and Compostela Valley, July 19 and 23 in Davao Del Norte, July 19 in Davao Del Sur, and July 19 and 23 in Davao City, Bahinting said.

Successful applicants will be trained and oriented to ensure that the real poor are selected, she added.

NHTSPR is a data management system that makes available a database of poor households as reference in identifying beneficiaries of social protection services. It aims to come up with a functional, objective and transparent targeting system that identifies who and where the poor are, thus reducing leakage of social services to non-poor and minimizing exclusion of the poor from said social services.

DSWD conducts household assessment every four years to define the quality of data and information that will be collected for the database as continuous baseline for social protection programs and services of other government agencies, NGOs and civil society organizations. The department’s goal is to ensure the integrity of the data before sharing it.

On Demand Application and Validation of the data collected are undertaken following the household assessment to resolve issues and concerns in the area with regards to inclusion of non-poor, exclusion of poor and under coverage.

Data to be generated include family size, educational attainment, access to health center, toilet facilities, electricity, water source, roof materials, as well as prevalence of displacement, disability, senior citizens and solo parents.

The data is the basis for classification of households into Food Poor (families whose income is below the food threshold level, i.e. not able to meet their basic food requirements); Survival Poor (those in between the food and poverty threshold, i.e. able to meet their food but not the other basic requirements); and Non-Poor (families living above the poverty threshold and able to meet their basic requirements).

DSWD’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program and Social Pension for Indigent Senior Citizens are both using NHTSPR data in identifying beneficiaries. Earlier, PhilHealth and the Department of Health (DOH) have also entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with DSWD on the use of NHTSPR data in the implementation of their respective social protection programs.  DSWD

SGPPA scholars in Davao Oriental.

 MATI, Davao Oriental –Commission on Higher Education Chairperson, Dr. Patricia Licuanan visited Davao Oriental State College of Science and Technology (DOSCST) in Mati City, Davao Oriental Thursday to award scholarship grants to 54 Typhoon Pablo Victims and to meet the 254 scholars of the Students’ Grant-in-Aid Program for Poverty Alleviation (SGPPA).

“Education is important to improve our quality of life, our families and our community. I believe that with this opportunity to achieve your dreams, you will serve as an inspiration to others and be an instrument of change,” said Chair Licuanan.

The scholarship grants for Pablo Victims were awarded to the St. Mary’s College of Baganga which is the identified institution to cater the scholars. Chair Licuanan together with Davao Oriental Governor Corazon N. Malanyaon, Mati City Mayor Carlo Rabat and DSWD Pantawid Pamilya Regional Program Coordinator Araceli M. Layog presented the award.

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) spearhead the SGPPA to ensure that grantees are enrolled in selected SUCs duly recognized by CHED, channelled to CHED priority courses, and extended the needed support that will guarantee completion of studies thus qualify them for a high-value added jobs in the future. Also, the SGPPA aims to contribute in the increase of the number of enrolment in higher education in line with the national government’s priority degree programs among poor households and support college graduates’ entry to labor markets through placement assistance.

Implemented since 2012, SGPPA was conceived to benefit qualified Pantawid Pamilya grantees all over the country.

A student-grantee receives a maximum of P 60,000.00 scholarship grant per school year, which is broken down to P20, 000/year Tuition Fee Cost, P 5,000/year Textbook Fees and other learning materials, and P 35,000 (that is, P 3,500/month x 10 months) Stipend (for board and lodging, transportation, clothing, health/medical needs, basic school supplies and other related costs).

At present, Davao Region caters to 622 SGPPA scholars enrolled in four state colleges/universities in the region: University of Southeastern Philippines (USEP), Southern Philippines Agri-business, Marine and Aquatic School of Technology (SPAMAST), Davao del Norte State College, and Davao Oriental State College of Science and Technology (DOSCST).

Pantawid Pamilya is a program that invests in human capital that is contributory to poverty-reduction. The program provides cash grants of at most P 1,400.00 for a family that has three children, ages 0 to 14, enrolled in the program. The family will be able to claim their grants if they comply to set health and education conditions strictly required by the program. As of May 2012, Pantawid Pamilya has a total of 188,000 registered household beneficiaries in 6 cities and 44 municipalities in all 4 provinces of Davao Region. DSWD