Listahanan: Frequently Asked Questions

7/22/2019 Listahanan: Frequently Asked Questions

1/121Talaan ng Pamilyang Nangangailangan

1) What is Listahanan?

Listahanan, also known as the National Household Targeting

System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR), is an informationmanagement system that identies who and where the poor arenationwide.

The system makes available to national government agencies(NGAs) and other social protection stakeholders a database ofpoor families as basis in identifying potentialbeneciaries ofsocial protection programs and services.

Consistent with EO 867, the updating of the Listahanan databaseof poor families shall be done every four (4) yearsthereafter.

Legal Bases:

Department Order No. 1 series of 2008, Adoption of theTargeting System for Poverty Reduction as a mechanismfor identifying potential beneciaries of DSWD SocialProtection Programs and Services.

National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) ResolutionNo. 18 series of 2009,Recognizing and Enjoining Support

to Targeting System being Implemented by the DSWDas a Tool to Identify Beneciaries of Social ProtectionPrograms

Executive Order 867 series of 2010, Adoption of theTargeting System as the Mechanism for Identifying PoorHouseholds who shall be Recipients of Social ProtectionPrograms Nationwide.


2/122 Listahanan

2) What are its objectives?

1. Formulate a uniform set of criteria for identifying poor

families in the country through scientic means;

2. Facilitatesharing of high quality databaseto public andprivate social protection stakeholders;

3. Reduce leakage or inclusion of non-poor andundercoverage or exclusion of poor from social protectionprograms and services.

4. Lessen implementation cost ofsocial protection programsby saving resources intended for targeting.

3) Why do we need a targeting system?

To have a unied set of criteria for identifying the poorthat would enable synchronization and convergence of allresources into a particular group of poor families. By concen-trating resources on the poor, social protection programs willhave better impact at a lower cost.

To ensure that that the limited resources socialprotection programs benet the poor or those who reallyneed assistance.

To improve the governance, transparency and credibilityofsocial protection programs.

To prevent the inclusion of non-poor and exclusion of thepoorfrom necessary social services.



4) Who is involved in targeting?

DSWD spearheads the process of identifying the poor inthe Listahanan throughNational Household Targeting Ofce(NHTO). National Household Targeting Units (NHTU) arealso organized in all DSWD Field Ofces.

NHTU hires, trains and supervises the eld staff composedof coordinators, supervisors, enumerators, encoders andveriers. The eld staff, who conduct the nationwide assessment,are NOT assigned in areas where they are from.

The NHTO has regular consultations with its NationalTechnical Advisory Group (NTAG) composed of techicalexperts in poverty, economics, statistics and demography, andits National Targeting System Committee (NTSC) composedof representatives of different operational clusters within theDSWD Central Ofce. Both provide guidance in the implemen-tation and management of Listahanan.

All activities of Listahanan at the eld level arecoordinated with the Local Government Units. Courtesy calls

and orientations are done to ensure that the LGUs know andunderstand the project.


4/124 Listahanan

5) How will Listahanan work in the 2nd round of

assessment?

For its second round of assessment, the targeting of poor familieswill be conducted following these four (4) phases:

1. Preparatory Phase involves (a) identication areas to beassessed and (b) data collection strategy appropriate for areasidentied.

a) Identication of Areas for Assessment - All provinces,municipalities, and cities are covered by the family reassess-ment.

b) Identication of Data Collection Strategy

nSaturation (complete enumeration) for all rural barangaysnSaturation (complete enumeration) in pockets of poverty inurban barangays.



2. Data Collection and Analysis Phase. Conduct ofhome visit to collect socio-economic information and basicinformation of family members using the Family AssessmentForm (FAF). The data is encoded online at the DSWD eldofces. A statistical model called A Proxy Means Test (PMT)is run to approximate family per capita income. After incomeis estimated, families areclassied into poor and non-poor,applying the ofcial provincial poverty thresholds.

a) What is aFamily Assessment Form or FAF?

The FAF is a four (4) page questionnaire with forty-six (46)variablesthat collects pertinent information about the welfarelevel of a family. Indicators collected in the FAF are basedon ofcial government surveys and censuses such as the 2009

Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES), Labor ForceSurvey (LFS), and 2007 Census of Population.

The enumera-

tor conducts the

family assessment

inside the respon-

dents house to getrsthand informa-

tion on the housing

characteristics and

to verify socio-

economic informa-

tion provided such

as family assets.


6/126 Listahanan

b) What isProxy-Means Test?

Proxy Means Test (PMT) is a statistical model that

approximates family income based on observable and veri-able proxy indicators of the familys income such as materialsused in housing structure, familys access to basic services andfacilities like water and electricity, and ownership of specicassets, among others.

c) Why PMT?

There is no one-size-ts-all in targeting.In countries whereactual incomes can beaccurately veried,means testing is usedfor targeting.

In countries with largeinformal sectors whereactual incomes aredifcult to verify, PMT hasbeen found to be a goodway of targeting the poor.PMT has been proven tobe an effective targetingmechanism in countries likeChile, Colombia, CostaRica, and Mexico where theinformal labor market islarge.

Pedicab driving is among the most common infor-

mal employment in the Philippines.(Photo from UNESCAP.ORG)



For PMT based targeting to be effective,manipulated responses need to be minimalized. It isfor this reason that PMT models are not normally shared

publicly by program implementors.

d) Howaccurateis PMT in approximating family income?

As in any model-based methodologies, the PMT is notperfect, thus it is possible to have errors in approximatingfamily incomes. These errors are often referred to asINCLU-SIONand EXCLUSION errors.

Inclusion errorrefers to the error when a true non-poorfamily was classied as poor using the PMT

Exclusion error refers to the error when a true poorhousehold was classied as non-poor using the PMT.

Validation and data-user feedback collection are justsome of the mechanisms employed by the NHTO to minimizeinclusion and exclusion errors of the PMT.

Not being a beneciary of social protection programs doesnot automatically mean that a household was excluded fromthe Listahanan database. Each program has its own eligibili-ty criteria in selecting their beneciaries and being poor as

identied in the Listahanan is usually just one of the eligibilitycriteria.

3. Validation and Finalization Phase. Validation is done byposting of the initial list of poor families at the barangay for thecommunities to provide feedback on the list. A Local ValidationCommittee (LVC) is formed in each municipality act on complaints

and grievances. Families who were not visited during the regularenumeration are given a chance to appeal and be assessed. After


8/128 Listahanan

the validation, the ofcial and nal list of poor families is sharedwith data users to serve as their basis in selecting beneciaries ofsocial protection programs.

4. Report Generation Phase. Generate reports based on thedata extracted from the database. Collect feedback from datausers as to how they used the data for their social protectionprograms and resolve appeals or complaints on beneciary se-lection.

6) What information is available in the Listahanan

database?

a) List of Poor Families (HHs) segregated by Region,Province, City/Municipality and Barangay. Names of poorhouseholds are only shared to users with existing MOA with thedepartment.

b) Disaggregated data on Families (list of names requires aMOA with the DSWD)

Family Identication (i.e. Address, length of stay inbarangay, and telephone)

Family Socio-economic information (i.e. Roof materials,toilet facility, water source, etc.)

Family Roster (i.e. Name of family members, educationalattainment, occupation, health center, etc.)

7) For what purposes can I use the Listahanandatabase?

The database can be used for the following purposes:



Targeting of Social Assistance ProgramsThe Listahanan is primarily a targeting mechanism that usesobjective and standard parameters to determine potential

beneciaries or recipients of the programs and services ofNGAs, LGUs and NGOs. Listahanan ensures implementers thatthe benets of their programs and services go to those who arereally qualied.

PlanningListahanan can be used as a planning tool. With theavailable socio-economic information, data users can see whichfamilies or communities are in need of a specic intervention.For example, the Listanahan can tell you which households arein need of sanitary toilet facilities or do have access to potablewater.

ValidationListahanan data can also

serve as a mechanismfor validating data onpoverty produced byother sources such asthe Community-basedMonitoring System(CBMS) or other local-ly-driven data collectionactivities, especially whenthey cover the same areas,and contain similar sets ofdata for the same timeframe.

Research

Listahanan can also be used as data resource and reference forresearch and studies.


10/120 Listahanan

8) Why use Listahanan over other sources ofpoverty data?

Listahananhas nationwide coverage. It can provide nationalup to household-level data including the family roster.

Listahananuses aunied set of 46 income-proxy indicatorsto identify the poor.This means that the project uses the sameindicators for all areas covered by the project. This allows directcomparison among the poverty proles of different areas.

Listahanan uses the Proxy Means Test (PMT), which has beenproven to be an effective targeting mechanism in countries withlarge informal labor market.

Listahanan makes available the database of families AT NOCOST.

EO 867 mandates NGAs to adoptListahananas mechanismfor identifying poor households who shall be recipients of socialprotection programs nationwide.

9) Where is the Listahanandatabase of poor familiesand who can access?

The database is lodged with the NHTO at thecentral ofceof DSWD.

The Listahanandatabase is secured by standard proceduresfollowed by a limited number of authorized DSWD staff whohave access to it.

The list of poor families generated from the database,however, can be shared with national government agencies



and other stakeholders upon execution of a Memorandum ofAgreement (MOA) between DSWD and the data user.

Listahanansdata and statistics can also be accessed at theListahananwebsite (http://listahanan.dswd.gov.ph). From thehome page, click the Statistics tab and log in as a guest(instructions provided on the page). Users may view data downto the barangay level.

10) What are the requirements to have a datasharing agreement with DSWD?

a. A memorandum of agreement (MOA)* signed by anauthorized representative of the requesting party, and

b. A letter detailing the data requirementsof the requestingparty.

Data Sharing Protocol Information such as statistics and magnitude can beobtained through ofcial data requests. However, a MOA is required if the informationbeing requested includes the names of family or house-hold members.

Statistics section of the Listahananwebsite


12/12

*with attached local council or board resolutionauthorizing thesignatory to enter into a MOA with the DSWD.

11) Why does data sharing require execution ofmemorandum of agreement (MOA)?

The Listahanans data is protected under a memorandum ofagreement, which ensures that the data will be used only for itsintended purposes.

This is also in consonance with the Data Privacy Act of 2012, which

is intended to protect the integrity and security of personal datain both the private and public sectors.

The data sharing agreement stipulates that the data user must:

a) Integrate Listahanan in all itssocial marketing activities --highlighting or emphasizing the use of the targeting system in

identifying beneciaries of its social protection programs andprojects.

b) Provide regular feedback on data utilization and resolutionon complaints regarding beneciary eligibility.

c) Ensure the condentialityand use of requested data only forpurposes agreed upon.

Documents

Listahanan: Frequently Asked Questions