LGU uses poverty monitoring tool as guide for cash grant distribution

By Judy Mae Magdato-Sajo

While the enhanced community quarantine is in effect, local government units (LGUs) are compelled to give assistance, especially to those who are considered to be the most financially-hit during this crisis.

LGUs are required to provide a list to different national agencies as basis for distribution of financial assistance under the Social Amelioration Program (SAP).

In Antique, the municipality of Valderrama used the database derived from the Community Based Monitoring System (CBMS), a poverty monitoring tool by the DILG.

The LGU’s actual census was done in 2017 and the data is valid for 3 years.

However, CBMS is more than just a data collection system because it integrates the data in local level planning and program implementation which guides the local officials in an evidence-based decision making.

From the census, poverty maps were produced as an output. The poverty maps identify who the poor are, where the poor are, and why they are poor as it provides a comprehensive picture of the different faces of poverty.

“In identifying indigent members of the population or households living below poverty threshold in the Municipality of Valderrama, we made available the CBMS data done through the actual survey in 2017,” Federico Rivero III, CBMS Focal Person of Valderrama, said.

Aside from the indigent families, data on the households with senior citizens; persons with disability; solo parents; overseas Filipinos; underprivileged sector and homeless citizens; and informal economy workers can be extracted using the CBMS which are among the target beneficiaries of the SAP.

This is based on the recently signed Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC 01 series of 2020) of different national agencies which providesthe guidelines on the provision of social amelioration measures to the most affected residents of the areas in the country under enhanced community quarantine.

Rivero added that the database derived from the CBMS helped the local officials in coming up with their list of beneficiaries for the social amelioration measures of the government in battling COVID-19.

This gave ease to the MSWDO in cross checking with those certified as poor by the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) of the DSWD. This will be their basis in the distribution of the Social Amelioration Card (SAC) forms.

The forms will be handed out to the barangay officials in preparation for the distribution of the cash assistance as discussed during the Joint Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (MDRRMC) and Municipal Development Council (MDC) Meeting earlier this week.

DILG Antique Provincial Director Cherryl Tacda commended the CBMS Technical Working Group of Valderrama for making use of their CBMS database to provide accurate information to the local officials as basis for the social amelioration grant.

Valderrama is one of the 9 LGUs in the province which availed of the CBMS under the Bottom-Up Budgeting in 2016. Other LGUs however funded their own.

More LGUs are expected to enrol the program since President Duterte signed into law the Republic Act 11315 or the “Community Based Monitoring System Act” on April 17 last year which mandates a regular and synchronized data collection by cities and municipalities every three years. (Photo from LGU Valderrama)