TUGUEGARAO CITY, June 24 (PIA) — The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) – National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) has conducted an essay-writing contest among government employees to gauge their knowledge and views on the targeting system of the government.
Administrative Assistant Aileen Aglaua of NHTS-PR said that the essay contest is one of the advocacy efforts of DSWD to popularize NHTS-PR to their target audience and to further solicit information on how to improve the data banking of marginalized families in the region.
“We are now on our second cycle of releasing the next list for the 4P’s beneficiaries that is why we conduct this program to advocate its usage and importance not only to the beneficiaries but also to the implementers of government poverty alleviation programs with the theme, “Targeting System: Boon or Bane?” Aglaua said.
Marydine L. Cambri of the Department of the Interior and Local Government won the essay-writing contest. Dennis John N. Espinoza of the Department of Education and Anne Margaret Y. Lasam of the National Economic Development Authority placed second and third respectively.
Aglaua said that majority of the 20 contestants acknowledged that the targeting system is a boon project for it bridges the information gap in identifying who really are the poor and deserving of government services.
She said that most of the contestants pointed out that the NHTS is a vital instrument to ensure that no government money will be wasted on programs anchored to poverty alleviation.
Aglaua said that the NHTS-PR is the first step in identifying the beneficiaries of 4P’s as well as other poverty alleviation program of the other government and non-government agencies.
She said that the NHTS-PR seeks to establish a socio-economic data base of household that will be used in identifying the beneficiaries of national social protection programs. It also seeks to reduce the problems of leakage or inclusion of non-poor and at the same time lessen exclusion or under-coverage of poor in social protection programs.
She added that the NHTS-PR identifies who and where the poor are and a response to the need to guarantee that the poor are able to avail of social protection programs since poverty here in the Philippines continues to boost.
She said that in the first half of 2006, the official poverty statistics was 28.8% and the number decreased to 27.9% in the first half of 2012.
The contest was judged by Cagayan media practitioners Prof. Elena Ferrer, journalist Oliver Baccay, and broadcaster Teresa Campos. (DL/OTB/PIA-2)#
