DSWD holds national confab in Ormoc

CEBU, Philippines - Officers from at least 12 regional offices of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) converged in Ormoc for its National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) conference last Thursday.

The conference was led by DSWD Secretary Corazon Soliman.

In an interview with The FREEMAn, Soliman admitted many Filipinos remain below the poverty line, although poverty incidence has reduced slightly from 2006 to 2009. She dispelled speculations that the poverty situation in the country is politicized, saying the same is based on a concrete survey discovering poverty threshold.

Soliman said the NHTS-PR, which can be used by the mayors, is "a mechanism in identifying who and where the poor are, and who shall be recipients of social protection programs nationwide."

Soliman said a family of five that earns P131 a day is considered below poverty threshold while those that earn P160 a day belong to the median level. Families earning P400 a day is above the poverty threshold.

In separate interview, NHTS-PR Dir. Vincent Andrew Leyson said that based on National Statistical Coordinating Board (NSCB) the poverty threshold in the country has increased form 3.6 million households in 2003 to 3.8 million in 2006.

"This means that of 100 Filipino families, 30 of them are living in slums, or makeshift houses of indigenous materials, do not have access to clean water, are unable to send their children to school, and are generally denied of other essential services including hospitals. And out of the 30 families, 24 do not have enough food to eat," he said.

Leyson clarified the NHTS-PR is not a survey instrument of the government but rather is a method used to assess a family income versus its basic needs to determine poverty. It will also measure the government's basic services and programs, such as the controversial conditional cash transfer and other pro-poor projects, if these indeed reduce poverty.

NHTS-PR activities started sometime in 2009 and employed 28,126 remunerators nationwide who faced the challenges on election ban, war conflict, etc. Its data-based results will be launched next month. — Edgar Allan Vilbar/JMO (THE FREEMAN)