Davao City (DSWD) – Around 1000 Listahanan identified poor families in barangays Panacan and Agdao will receive bags of blessing from Metrobank Foundation on Saturday, January 28, in celebration of Chinese New Year.

Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Judy M. Taguiwalo led on Monday, the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) of the Bags of Blessing Project (BOB) with Metrobank Foundation. The signing was held at DSWD National Capital Region in Manila.

Leading the distribution in Davao are Director Mercedita P. Jabagat of DSWD Davao Region and Metrobank Davao Officers. Venue is set at DSWD Compound at corner R. Magsaysay Ave. and D. Suazo St.

The Bags of Blessing Project is an annual nationwide gift-giving project of Metrobank wherein 10,000 bags filled with food items (grocery and snack food for children) worth Php 1,000.00 will be distributed to 10,000 poorest families listed in DSWD’s Listahanan but are not beneficiaries of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino program.

“These 1000 beneficiaries are from Davao City. Our role in this project is validation of the list in coordination with City Social Services and Development Office (CSSDO) and social workers from concerned barangays, to provide augmentation support to DSWD staffs to fast track the evaluation,” Listahanan Focal Person and Policy and Plans Division Chief Estrella D. Brigole said.

“We are thankful for this partnership with Metrobank because we are able to give assistance to our identified poor who are not covered by Pantawid Pamilya but who are also economically marginalized,” Brigole added.

Bags of Blessing Project is funded by GT Foundation, Inc. which is the foundation of Mr. George Ty’s family, the owner of Metrobank. For 2017, the foundation has allotted a total of Php 10 Million worth of food packs in 18 cities nationwide.

Listahanan is a data management system that identifies who and where the poor are. In 2016, the Listahanan second round of assessment identified 280,325 poor families in Davao Region. (DSWD)