All local government units in Western Visayas may soon be using synchronized data in choosing beneficiaries of their social protection programs.

Records of the National Household Targeting Unit of the Department of Social Welfare and Development VI show that out of 133 local government units in the region, 91 or 68 percent have already signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Department, particularly the list of poor households and the socio-economic information. Among them are the provincial government units of Iloilo, Aklan and Antique.

Roxas City, Victorias City and the Municipality of Buenavista in Guimaras have also requested for statistics only, together with the Zonta Club of Iloilo, for them to use in their programs and projects.

Aside from the LGUs, representatives of congressional districts of the 1st District and Lone District of Iloilo and 3rd District of Negros Occidental are now using the NHTS-PR’s database, to identify the beneficiaries of their programs.

The socio-economic information provided in the database can be used in the planning and budgeting for social protection programs and services. Among national government agencies, the Department of Health and the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation are now making use of the data-sharing.

Executive Order No. 867 issued in March 2010 has directed all National Government Agencies (NGAs) to adopt the results of NHTS-PR in identifying prospective beneficiaries for their social protection programs nationwide.

The NHTS-PR is an information management system that identifies who and where the poor are in the country. The system makes available to national government agencies and other social protection stakeholders a database of poor households as reference in identifying potential beneficiaries of social protection programs.

It is the basis in choosing beneficiaries of the social protection programs like Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, Social Pension and Sustainable Livelihood Program. Typhoons victims also undergo special validation by the NHTS-PR to determine what services will be provided to them based on their needs.

As a way of monitoring, it is stipulated in the MOA that the parties that requested for the data should give feedback on how the data was utilized in provision of social protection services to their constituents.

However, as of the moment, none of those LGUs and agencies served has submitted a feedback on how they utilized the database./DSWD6/Wenna A. Berondo