IP Listahanan enumerator Torays Dagwa-an conducts family assessment.                                

Palma Gil, Talaingod, Davao Del Norte -“Dili gyud babag kanako ang  gigikanan o kultura aron mapalambo nako akoang kaugalingon ug akoang pamilya ( My roots and culture will never hinder me from improving my life and that of my family’s ),” Listahanan enumerator Torays Dagwa-an announced.

Dagwa-an, 24, an Ata Manobo of Sitio Dalingding, Palma Gil is proud to be take part in the Listahanan assessment of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). He is assigned in Talaingod.

“Dako akoang kalipay nga naging parte ko aning survey sa DSWD. Tungod ani matabangan nako akoang mga ka-tribo nga maapil sa Listahanan aron matagaan og higayon nga mahimong benepisaryo sa umaabot nga programa sa gobyerno (I am very happy that I’ve been a part of this survey of DSWD. Through this, I am able to help my fellow tribesman to be interviewed and be given the chance to benefit from upcoming programs of government).”

Dagwa-an is also a beneficiary of the Modified Conditional Cash Transfer for Indigenous Peoples (MCCT-IP).

Beneficiaries of this program are IP families with 0-18 year old children and/or those beyond 18 years old but currently enrolled in Elementary, High School, Alternative Learning System, School of Living Tradition and other indigenous learning systems; IPs living within or outside their ancestral domain; and those located in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDA).

His wife Genalyn also serves as parent leader of MCCT-IP.

Driven

Talaingod town is 80 percent Indigenous people (Ata Manobo) mostly occupying the farthest and hilly areas that Listahanan enumerators have to walk for hours just to reach the IP residents.

“Lisod pud amoang kahimtang kay bisag taga didto ra mi, dili malikayan nga mahadlok ka tungod sa tribal conflict –pangayao, nga usa ka problema sa kumunidad ug ang kalit mag gyera ang sundalo ug militante sa amoang lugar. Pero pinaka-importante nakig coordinate mi sa mga lider ug mapasabot nimu ang programa sa ilaha (Our situation is difficult. Even if we are from the area, we could not help but be apprehensive because of the tribal conflict which is one of the problems in the community, and also the armed encounters between the military and the rebels. But what matters most is coordinating with the local leaders and making them understand the purpose of the survey).

Dagwa-an recalled when his team was caught in a crossfire between rebels and military troops in the nearby sitio while they had an on-going assessment in Sitio Nasilaban. “Ang among gibuhat nitago lang mi sa eskwelahan ug human sa  buto-buto amoang gibalikan pa ang balay nga wala pa nahuman og survey kay maluoy mi kung amoang biyaan (My team hid at a nearby school then resumed the survey after the crossfire because we didn’t want to miss out on any family).”

The determination and sincerity of Dagwa-an and his group made them heroes and endeared them to their own community.

Blessed community

DSWD already covers Talaingod with anti-poverty convergence programs like Pantawid Pamilya, Kalahi-CIDSS, Sustainable Livelihood, Supplementary Feeding, Social Pension and many more.

Dagwa-an also benefited from a solar lighting project of Kalahi-CIDSS in 2013.

“Kining pagka-enumerator nako dako nga tabang sa akoang kumunidad, masabtan nako ang linguahe ug akoa pud mapasabot sa ilaha nga ang gobyerno dili mupasagad kanamo nga mga IP (My being an enumerator is an advantage to my community as I know the dialect and I can let them understand that government will not leave out the IPs).”

“In this second round Listahanan assessment, DSWD expects to have an expanded and updated database of poor including the IPs. This will also serve as a tool in determining the potential beneficiaries of existing and future programs and services of the department and other agencies,” DSWD Regional Director Priscilla Razon emphasized earlier.

Listahanan or Talaan ng Pamilyang Nangangailangan is a database of poor households. It is 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.

Listahanan helps government properly allocate and equitably distribute its limited resources to proper beneficiaries. (DSWD)