DSWD’s Gatchalian, Octa Research meet to recalibrate programs on hunger, poverty
MANILA, Philippines— Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian and independent analytics group Octa Research have met to recalibrate social protection programs and services, the agency said on Wednesday.
DSWD said that the newly appointed chief and the group met on Monday to exchange views on programs anchored on current and latest data trends.
“The meeting aimed at making data-driven social protection packages that will resolve the development issues in the Philippines, particularly hunger and poverty problems,” the DSWD said in a statement.
“The meeting with the OCTA Research Team is in line with the priorities of Secretary Gatchalian to enhance social protection by depending on data,” it added.
The OCTA Research group was led by their President Dr. Ranjit Rye and Chief Data Scientist Dr. Guido David during the meeting.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in 2021, there are 1.04 million Filipino families below the food poverty line or those whose income is not enough to meet basic food needs, while there are 19.99 million Filipinos who live below the poverty threshold.
Last week, DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian met with the Social Weather Station (SWS) and United Nations (UN) resident Coordinator in the Philippines Gustavo Gonzalez regarding the administration’s efforts to end poverty and hunger, as well as managing disaster resilience.
—MJ Soriano, INQUIRER.net trainee
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