Posted on by Jaymante Pearl Apilado

Rain or shine, the field staff of Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT) Program diligently went even in the remote areas of the poor households in order to check and update their information.

The Listahanan or the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction of the Department of Social Welfare and Development Field Office 1 (DSWD FO 1) is now preparing for the upcoming notification activity of the Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT) Program. A total of 48,999 households will be notified through home visits starting next month as beneficiaries of the UCT Program.

Out of the 48,998 households that are UCT beneficiaries, 3,754 households are from the Province of Ilocos Norte; 3,952 from Ilocos Sur; 5,987 from La Union; and 35,305 households from the Province of Pangasinan.

The UCT beneficiaries were validated from the 76,103 poor households of 2015 Listahanan list. From the 76,103 targeted poor households in Region 1, 5,655 households are from the Province of Ilocos Norte; 6,232 from Ilocos Sur; 9,920 from La Union; and 54,296 households from the Province of Pangasinan.

According to the report of the National Household Targeting Section (NHTS) Regional Information Technology Officer Aristedeo V. Tinol, 68,480 poor households from the 76,103 targeted poor households were tagged as validated in the UCT database. The remaining 7,623 households were not validated due to the following reasons: the households are beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, the households are unlocated, the housing unit of the households are vacant during the validation activity, the households do not have qualified respondent, the households refused to be interviewed, and the households were already transferred to another Region.

DSWD Field Office 1 employees exerts additional effort in locating and validating the targeted poor households of UCT who transferred within the City/Municipalities of Region 1.

In an interview, DSWD FO 1 Regional Director Marcelo Nicomedes J. Castillo said that all the funds for UCT grants are lodged with the Land Bank of the Philippines that is why prior to the implementation of the UCT payout, DSWD FO 1 officials had a meeting with the Land Bank Managers regarding the different payment methods available and suitable for all the UCT beneficiaries such as the active beneficiaries of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, the indigent Social Pensioners of Social Pension Program, and the Listahanan identified poor households.

The UCT refers to the social welfare benefit under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law or the Republic Act 10963 in the amount of PhP200.00 per month in 2018; and PhP300.00 per month in 2019 and 2020. (by: Jaymante Pearl B. Apilado, Administrative Assistant III, NHTS-PR/Listahanan)