The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) conducts a forum today, September 14, dubbed, “National Household Targeting System, a Focused Targeting of Beneficiaries of Social Protection Programs” at the Hotel Rembrandt in Quezon City.

The forum presents DSWD’s data bank of poor households generated through the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR).

The NHTS-PR is an information management system that identifies who and where the poor are through a survey conducted by trained enumerators.

The DSWD developed this electronic database on poor families in the country to create a unified system in the selection of the poor and will share the database with other public and private social protection stakeholders.

NHTS-PR Director Vincent Andrew T. Leyson said that “the project has identified 5.2 million poor households nationwide.”

“Now that we know who and where the poor are, the government can focus its resources to efficiently deliver the appropriate services for them,” Director Leyson emphasized.

He added that through the use of NHTS-PR, social funds will now be spent wisely to benefit the most vulnerable members of society. “The poor can now enjoy the basic social services that were once difficult to avail,” he explained.

Currently, 21 national government agencies are using the NHTS-PR database for their social protection programs. One of them is the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) which used the database in identifying beneficiaries for its National Health Insurance Program.

Moreover, Director Leyson said that 263 local government units (LGUs), 16 non-government organizations (NGOs) and eight (8) donor agencies tapped the database for situationer, development plans and programs.

“We urge groups involved in social protection programs to use the database. This is one of the steps being undertaken to ensure that no Filipino will be left behind on our way to progress,” Director Leyson added.

The Social Welfare and Development Forum is convened quarterly by the DSWD to inform, consult and coordinate with major stakeholders of SWD programs in the national and local levels. ##