MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is set to wrap up its ‘Listahanan’ or poverty database program in 2023 as the Community Based Monitoring System (CBMS) will take its place by 2024.
The CBMS is mandated by Republic Act No. 11315, which transfers the responsibility of a poverty database to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian said the main proponents of the CBMS are local government units (LGUs).
“The beauty about next year is the CBMS law that Congress passed. Listahanan will end its life this year. We will no longer be creating another Listahanan. So with CBMS being the main driver for a database, LGUs will be empowered to make it more responsive,” Gatchalian said during a Committee on Appointments panel hearing.
Gatchalian said that localizing the lists to the community level allows changes on the ground to reflect in the database more quickly.
“Because it’s LGU driven, any time we want to update our changing realities. Let’s say, there was a disaster, and the lives of people there changes, it will be captured in the CBMS,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.
In a statement, the DSWD said that it will no longer create a list for 2024 to fully support the PSA’s CBMS.
The DSWD is currently coordinating with the PSA to transition the duties, assured Gatchalian.