LEGAZPI CITY -- The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is conducting simultaneous registration of the total 102,853 Listahanan-identified poor households as beneficiaries of the Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT) program in the Bicol Region.
“The poor households identified by Listahanan were the results of the validation conducted in the first semester of this year. The validation aims to update their family profile and ensure that they belong to the poorest households in the region,” DSWD Regional Director Arnel Garcia said in an interview on Friday.
The agency targets to distribute the UCT cash grants to the Listahanan-identified poor households this year.
The ongoing registration is being conducted in the municipalities and barangays in coordination with the LGUs.
To be registered, beneficiaries need to submit three pieces 2×2 photos and one photocopy of a valid government-issued ID. Likewise, they must accomplish the Landbank Cash Card Enrollment form. The beneficiaries will be notified by the Barangay Council and Municipal or City LGU of the UCT registration schedule.
For the UCT program, as stipulated in Republic Act 10963 or the TRAIN Law, qualified beneficiaries include the Pantawid Pamilya households, indigent senior citizens of the Social Pension program and the poor households identified by Listahanan.
The UCT is the cash subsidy provision of the government to the poor, who will be adversely affected by the rising prices of primary commodities as a result of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law implementation.
The program provides one-time unconditional cash grant of PHP2,400 equivalent to PHP200 per month this 2018. The amount will increase to PHP3,600 or PHP300 per month in the succeeding two years.
Formerly known as the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR), Listahanan is an information management system that identifies who and where the poor are in the country. It serves as the baseline for the identification of potential beneficiaries of social protection programs.
Meanwhile, Garcia clarified that being included in the Listahanan database does not mean that the household will automatically be a recipient of any program.
“The identified poor households in the Listahanan will be prioritized if there are programs to be implemented but this will again undergo eligibility procedures based on the program requirements,” he said. (PNA)
