KORONADAL CITY, South Cotabato —The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) field office 12 has finally deployed the SOCPEN and MCCT field workers in their areas of assignment on Tuesday, July 3.

Through the National Household Targeting Unit (NHTU) under the stewardship of Ashraf Dirampatan, Project Development Officer IV for NHTU 12, the special validation on Social Pension (SOCPEN) program and Modified Conditional Cash Transfer (MCCT) non-Listahanan identified poor beneficiaries is being conducted simultaneously based on the crafted deployment plan of DSWD 12.

Accordingly, the special validation is set to be completed within the 15-day period. Each enumerator (Ens) is to accomplish an average of sixteen (16) households per day with close supervision by their Area Supervisor (AS). However, due to some distance and weather concerns in most areas to be assessed in the region, Dirampatan said that the completion of the assessment might be delayed and, therefore, must be extended.

“Some areas in region 12 are plain hard to reach. Some areas would take a whole day for our AS and Ens to reach on foot, let alone dealing with the areas’ unstable weather conditions”, Dirampatan noted.

Dirampatan, being in close coordination with his AS, each supervising five Ens, has already received report that there have been areas, mostly remote, that have community refusing to be enumerated despite team’s efforts to educate the former on the significance of the special validation.

“This is also another concern that might cause delay. We do not compromise the safety of our field staff. When reports like these reach us, we immediately pull the workers out of that area”, Dirampatan explained.

Meanwhile, in light of this validation, Abigail Calipjo, Project Development Officer (PDO) IV of the National Project Management Office (NPMO)-DSWD Central Office, along with Dirampatan, conducted a monitoring activity on the field workers plight. The spot check aimed to verify the attendance of the field workers in their areas of assignment, see if the enumerators were conducting interviews properly, check if the proof of assessment stickers were placed in each assessed house and address other concerns.

The special validation on the MCCT and SOCPEN non-Listahanan indigent beneficiaries is being conducted as part of the corrective measures of DSWD.

The respondents for the special validation, if found truly poor by DSWD will be legitimized and shall continue receiving anti-poverty programs and services.(End) ###