Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian said on Tuesday (August 15) that the reassessment process of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) household beneficiaries uses both metrics and social workers’ emotional quotient (EQ).
In a press briefing in Malacanang, Secretary Gatchalian said that the Department is employing the Social Welfare and Development Indicators (SWDI) tool in the revalidation of 4Ps beneficiaries who were tagged as non-poor based on the latest result of the Listahanan 3 assessment.
“Si SWDI kasi bukod sa may score may emotional quotient siya… iyong social worker pumupunta do’n tinitignan niya,” the Secretary pointed out.
(The SWDI tool uses emotional quotient aside from numbers. The social workers personally go to the households to check on their status.)
The DSWD chief said that aside from the proxy means test, which was used in the Listahanan, the SWDI tool is also being implemented by the social workers to determine and monitor the progress of the families’ well-being.
“We are also looking at the other aspects of the family well-being mayroon siyang puso kumbaga. May numero at pusong pinagsama, iyon ang ginagamit natin ngayon,” Secretary Gatchalian emphasized.
(We are also looking at the other aspects of the family well-being, more of the emotional side. We employ number and put heart during the reassessment.)
The Secretary also mentioned that the reassessment of more than 700,000 households is expected to end by September.
During the press briefing, the DSWD chief said the “Listahanan” would no longer be used next year due to the rollout of the Community Based Monitoring System (CBMS), which would make the localities the main data collecting authority.
Secretary Gatchalian said this will be the last year that the DSWD will be using Listahanan, which is the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTSPR).
“Wala na kaming Listahanan 4. Huli na ang Listahanan 3. This will be the last year that we will be using Listahanan since Congress has already passed the law on the CBMS,” the DSWD chief told Malacanang reporters.
Secretary Gatchalian was referring to the CBMS, which based on the law, is an organized technology-based system of collecting, processing, and validating necessary disaggregated data that may be used for local planning, program implementation, and impact monitoring while empowering communities to participate in the process.
The CBMS also addresses the lack of necessary disaggregated data for diagnosing extent of poverty at the local level, determines the causes of poverty, serves as guide for formulating appropriate policies and programs, identifies eligible beneficiaries, and assesses the impact of policies and programs.
“So you might want to take that into account na next year, baka akala ng mga tao, kami pa rin ang magpapatakbo (ng Listahanan) after four years – hindi na kami,” Secretary Gatchalian said.
The DSWD chief said it will be the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) which will do the framework but the concept will be implemented by the local government units (LGUs.).
Secretary Gatchalian also said that the Department will immediately disburse the grants to 4Ps beneficiaries through their cash cards after the ongoing reassessment which will end in September.
“We see that in DSWD, pagdating sa 4Ps, which is half of our budget by the way—that’s around Php 96 billion, kalahati sya ng DSWD na budget—ay kaagad by the end of the year, after the reassessment is done, we believe that we can fully utilize the budget na nakalaan para sa 4Ps.
(We see that in DSWD, when it comes to 4Ps, which is half of our budget by the way—that’s around Php 96 billion, it’s half of the DSWD budget—will immediately, by the end of the year, after the reassessment is done, we believe that we can fully utilize the budget intended for the 4Ps beneficiaries.)#
