The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) through the Listahanan or the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) organized the first-ever Gawad Listahanan or the Data Utilization Awards to confer awards to Local Government Units (LGU) for providing services and assistance to the Listahanan-identified poor families.

The activity aims to promote the convergence of all social protection stakeholders on the identified poor to effectively address the different aspects of poverty.

After the conduct of validation and deliberation ,the city of El Salvador from the province of Misamis Oriental was chosen as one of the final nominees of the Gawad Listahanan Awards.
LGUs who were nominated to the competition were those who have followed a set of minimum standards which includes:(1) having an active Memorandum of Agreement with the DSWD on Listahanan data sharing, (2) must have identified and funded a locally-funded program for the Listahanan- identified poor,(3) must be compliant in submitting feedback reports to the Department relative to their utilization of the Listahanan data and (4) must have passed a Sanggunian Bayan/Panglungsod resolution or ordinance in support to their utilization of the Listahanan data.

Nominess were classified into three categories: Municipal,City, and Provincial Government.

In Northern Mindanao, based on the submitted requirements, only the Local Government Units of Kapatagan, Lanao del Norte (municipal category) and El Salvador City (City category) made it to the national nominations of which,only the city of El Salvador was qualified for final validation.

Winners of the said award will be recognized early next year in time for the Listahanan Summit .

The NHTS-PR or Listahanan is an information management system that the government uses in identifying who and where the poor are and is being spearheaded by the Department of Social Welfare and Development. It aims to address poverty reduction through a scientific and target- focused strategy.

Written by, Mitzie S. Santiago, DSWD