A 2015 committee for the identification and verification of indigent and impoverished families in need of assistance from the government has been relaunched with Baguio Mayor Benjamin Magalong at the helm.
The city’s Local Verification Committee (LVC) was reinstated by Executive Order No. 16, series of 2021. The LVC,was created by an administrative order during the term of former Baguio mayor, Mauricio Domogan, in compliance with the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NTHS-PR)..
The committee, whose responsibility includes identifying households who qualify under the NTHS-PR as indigent and in need of or eligible for assistance, as well as settling claims under the program, was reinstated with new members as some original members assigned via the original administrative order are no longer employed with the government of Baguio.
With Magalong as the head and City Social Welfare and Development Officer Betty Fangasan as vice chairperson, the committee has had current members of the government reassigned to become members of the LVC.
Members include Civil Society Organizations Councilor Lilia Farinas Councilor Michael Lawana; City Planning and Development Coordinator Arch. Donna Tabangin; Department of the Interior and Local Governance-CAR City Director Evelyn Trinidad, executive director of Jaime V. Ongpin, Inc.Maria Rosario Lopes; and Voltaire Acosta, chief executive officer of Council for the Restoration of Filipino Values.
Other than identification and settling of claims, the LVC is also tasked to ensure that claims and classifications are verified and correct, such as in the case of households mistakenly being tagged as poor and in need of assistance.
Earlier, the city council issued a resolution urging the city’s 128 barangays to create local teams to do the same work tagging impoverished households in their jurisdiction.
