The faces behind the numbers: UNICEF helps DSWD’s Listahanan database to end child poverty
UNICEF supports DSWD in assessing most vulnerable and hardest-to-reach families to be included in Listahanan program.
Marylene Pallong, an enumerator for Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Listahanan program balances herself on small bamboo planks that serve as a makeshift bridge to reach poor families in Maluso, Basilan. She’s on a mission to find families that were not included in the government’s initial poverty registry, families that are much like her own.
Listahanan is the information management system that identifies who and where the poor are in the Philippines. Building such a huge database that generates national to household level data requires an army of encoders, area coordinators, barangay officials and enumerators like Marylene who go house-to-house, over mountains and across rivers to reach the poorest of the poor.
A lifeline for poor families
“I consider my work important because many people in our municipality don’t know that there are government programs that can help them. I’m doing this because I want to reach out to them. I talk to them and tell them not to lose hope, because I was also in the same situation,” Marylene says proudly.
Being a beneficiary herself, Marylene went through the same process as the families she is now supporting. Being included in the Listahanan helped her access the government’s cash grants to support her nine children especially after her husband passed. With the grants, she was able to buy food, requirements for her children’s school projects, uniforms and other basic needs.
Listahanan is the information management system that identifies who and where the poor are in the Philippines.
Towards social inclusion
Today, she tracked down the Aradji family who were not included in the data collection phase. Jul and Amina Aradji have eight children and live in a small house on stilts in Maluso. While Marylene dutifully interviews the family, baby Hapeja happily plays on his mother’s lap.
Thanks to UNICEF’s support to DSWD’s Listahanan program, families who asked to be included in the program or whose records are not captured accurately are being assessed by enumerators like Marylene.
“In the Philippines today, there are around 9.3 million poor children. Ending child poverty is one of UNICEF’s priorities. As a first step, we need to know how widespread child poverty is in the Philippines to guide budgets, policies and plans. Supporting Listahanan is important to ensure that no child is left behind, and the most vulnerable children and families get the support they need,” Atty. Anjanette Saguisag, UNICEF Philippines’ Social Policy Chief says.
Conflict and COVID
In geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas such as BaSulTa, enumerators not only have to gather accurate information, they also have to deal with armed conflict and the threat of COVID-19 infections.
“Our staff walk long distances and cross rivers and seas just to reach poor families. We hope that the rich data generated by the Listahanan will be used by many government agencies, researchers and other organizations to help alleviate the poverty being experienced by many Filipinos,” Annette Asinas, DSWD’s Project Development IV Officer said.
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"We hope that the rich data generated by the Listahanan will be used by many government agencies, researchers and other organizations to help alleviate the poverty being experienced by many Filipinos”
