March 29, 2024

The city council has encouraged barangay officials to create a verification team to assess the list of poor households under the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) conducted by the Department of Social Welfare and Development and to review appeals and grievances in the community that might arise regarding the program.
Vice Mayor Faustino Olowan said the barangay verification team shall consist of the punong barangay, the first-in-rank sangguniang barangay member, the sangguniang barangay member in-charge of social services, and two representatives from the civil society or people’s organizations or faith groups in the barangay.
The NHTS-PR or the Listahanan is an information system meant to identify the poor nationwide who are potential beneficiaries of social protection programs and services of the government.
In a separate resolution, the council requested Mayor Benjamin Magalong to reconstitute the Local Verification Committee created by virtue of Administrative Order 17, s. 2015 issued by former mayor Mauricio Domogan.
The council said several members of the committee no longer work with the government, thus the need to reconstitute its composition in preparation for the third round of household assessment.
In 2015, the Department of the Interior and Local Government issued memorandum Circular 2015-69 encouraging local government units to support the project by allowing the DSWD being the lead implementing agency to conduct assessment so it could identify pockets of poverty.
The MC also sought the creation of a local verification committee responsible for the resolution of complaints and appeals of individuals or groups regarding the implementation of the project. – Jordan G. Habbiling