PIA Press Release
Thursday, January 05, 2012

DSWD prepares for validation of IPs, informal labor sectors

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Jan. 5 (PIA 9) - - Social Welfare Department here is gearing up for the validation of households previously identified as indigenous peoples and employed in the informal labor sector during the previous assessments. These were conducted from CY 2009 up to early this year and shall form part of the National Household Targeting System (NHTS) database.

Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Hasan Alfad, planning officer, and National Housing Targeting System (NHTS) regional focal person said, the need to validate the IPs and informal sectors is necessary to better address the targeting needs of data users and to further improve the utility of the database.

Results will provide the data users specific information pertaining to the IPs in Region IX as well as particulars of employment of the working force in the informal sector.

The agency had already started orienting the various field staff such as the area coordinators, area supervisors, and enumerators who will be deployed to specific areas to validate and acquire needed information about the IPs and informal sector workers.

With this data ready at hand soon, interested foundations and organizations concerned with IPs and the labor force can easily obtain needed information from the said database.

Validation activities will include the encoding of the raw data to be submitted to DSWD central office which will take around two months before the agency can release the official data to interested groups.

Executive Order 867 established NHTS-PR as the targeting mechanism for all social protection programs and services to be implemented by national government agencies. PhilHealth, DOH, and DPWH are among the government agencies that have already adopted the database in identifying beneficiaries for their programs.

Majority of DSWD’s program beneficiaries were identified using said record. Programs such as the Social Pension for Senior Citizens, Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, Self-Employment Assistance for Kaunlaran/Sustainable Livelihood Programs and Rice Subsidy Program have relied on the NHTS for focused targeting to minimize wastage of government resources. (JPA/NZBue/DSWD/PIA ZBST)