Baguio ‘LISTAHAN’ committee reconstitued
The city council recently confirmed Executive Order No. 16 creating the Local Verification Committee (LVC) for National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction or “Listahan” (NTHS-PR) in the City of Baguio.
The NHTS-PR or “Listahanan” is an information system meant to identify the poor people nationwide who are potential beneficiaries of the social protection programs and services of the government.
Earlier, the city council passed a resolution requesting Mayor Benjamin Magalong to reconstitute the Baguio City Local Verification Committee (LVC) which was created by virtue of Administrative Order No. 017, Series of 2015 issued by former Mayor Mauricio Domogan.
According to the council, 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.
Under the new LVC created by virtue of Executive Order No. 16, Mayor Benjamin Magalong is appointed as Chairperson and City Social Welfare and Development Officer Betty Fangasan as Vice Chairperson.
Members of the committee consist of government officials and representatives of concerned Civil Society Organizations as follows:
Councilor Lilia Farinas, Chairperson of Sanggunian’s Committee on Social Services, Women, and Urban Poor; Councilor Michael Lawana, ABC President; Arch. Donna Tabangin, City Planning and Development Coordinator; Dir. Evelyn Trinidad, Department of the Interior and Local Governance-CAR City Director; Maria Rosario Lopes, Executive Director of Jaime V. Ongpin, Inc.; and Voltaire Acosta, Chief Executive Officer of Council for the Restoration of Filipino Values.
The LVC is tasked to settle all unresolved grievance claims and appeals of resolved claims by barangay units with regard to the inclusion or exclusion from the list of verified households falling within the coverage of the NHTS-PR.
A complaint shall be entertained by the LVC especially if there is a claim that a specific household is poor and must be included in the list or if a household is “erroneously” identified as poor and is included in the list.
It is also the duty of the LVC to certify the completeness of the list of households living below the poverty threshold along with the recommended changes.
Further, the LVC shall accept complaints against barangay verification teams.
The city council previously passed another resolution encouraging the 128 barangays in the city to create a barangay verification team to assess the initial list of poor households under the NHTS-PR and to review appeals and grievances in the community that might arise regarding the program. -Jordan G. Habbiling
