Ilocos Norte tops DSWD Gawad Listahanan Awards

By Jennifer Pambid

LAOAG CITY -- The Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte was cited by Department of Social Welfare and Development in its  Gawad Listahanan Awards Jan. 29 for the former’s  effort to improve delivery of service and assistance to the poor,

Gawad Listahanan or Data Utilization Awards is conferred by the DSWD to local government units that have registered most number of beneficiaries of locally-funded programs in  Listahanan database of poor families through the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction.

NHTS-PR is an information management system that makes available to national government agencies data of poor families as reference in identifying potential beneficiaries of social protection programs and services.

Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office head Corazon Lilian Rin received plaque of appreciation and cash of P50,000 handed by DSWD Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman.

Rin said Gov. Imee Marcos discussed memorandum of agreement with the DSWD central office regarding the use of the NHTS-PR.

“The NHTS-PR database was used by Gov. Marcos to identify the beneficiaries of MDG localization. These families were categorized into poor, middle poor and get away poor. This was our basis for prioritizing the poorest families by providing them protective services such as medical and dental missions, granting animal dispersal and other services,” Rin added.

“Today we have quelled the growth in the poverty numbers, more importantly we have identified the different segments of the poor here in Ilocos Norte, particularly identifying the breakthrough poor—the poor who have in their power the skill and the ability and the commitment to break out of poverty through their own efforts with just a little help from the public sector. I am hopeful that the change in the poverty map will continue, having less in the coastal areas which we saw in 2010 and dwindling numbers in the interior upland zones,” Marcos said.