The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office MIMAROPA  was accorded the “Best Statistical Activity Conducted by a Government Organization” award during the closing ceremony of the 29th National Statistics Month (NSM) held on October 29 in Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas,  Manila City.

The award was given by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) under the 28th NSM Awards.

Jason Eco Oliverio, information officer for the Listahanan (Talaan ng Pamilyang Nangangailangan) of the regional field office, said they received the award for holding the “4th Listahanan Anti-Poverty Symposium” as part of the statistics month celebration on October 17, 2017, in Boac, Marinduque.

“Naging entry natin ‘yong symposium na ginagawa every October 17 to end poverty. Ngayong taon sa Romblon po ‘yong symposium natin,” Oliverio said.

The theme of the symposium last year that gave them the award in 2018 is “Answering the Call of October 7 to End Poverty: A Path Towards Peaceful and Inclusive Societies.”

The symposium was held in cooperation with the Marinduque State College (MSC) in commemoration of the United Nations (UN) International Day for the Eradication of Extreme Hunger and Poverty.

He said it is a call “to end extreme hunger and poverty along with the Listahanan initiatives in increasing the awareness of MIMAROPA residents on the regional profile of the poor, providing all stakeholders a solid and evidenced-based statistics according to the nationwide household assessment results.”

“Receiving the award means the DSWD MIMAROPA Listahanan has shown significant and distinct initiatives and contributions to popularizing statistics through the holding of symposiums that give a face to their content,” he said.

Oliverio said through the Listahanan’s collected statistical data, local government units (LGUs) can be helped to make sound decisions to address extreme hunger and poverty effectively.

Based on the Listahanan 2015 database, out of 584,562 households assessed and validated regionwide, an estimated 221,324 or 39 percent have been identified as poor.

Of the total number, there are 55,363 poor households in Oriental Mindoro; 39,182 in Occidental Mindoro; 14,051 in Marinduque; 20,777 in Romblon; and 91,951 in Palawan.###

Source: Palawan News