DSWD assures Project for 'Pablo' victims not for election campaign

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines — Safety nets are in place to ensure that a DSWD project for victims of typhoon Pablo will not be marred by political color, especially for the May 13 elections.

This was the assurance made by Thess Garcia, deputy project manager of the DSWD's National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR), for which the agency has began hiring and training of field personnel for the validation of typhoon victims in Negros Oriental and other parts of Central Visayas.

The enumerators and field staff were ordered not to submit validation reports on March 29, the official start of the campaign period for local candidates, to avoid accusations the project will be used to promote a political group or agenda.

 "We do not want that anybody could say this is politically motivated or done through the auspices of a certain government official," Garcia said, adding that hiring of enumerators, supervisors and coordinators underwent strict screening process.

She was confident that the chosen field staff could not be influenced by politicians even if there were attempts to attach the project in enticing the electorate to vote for a particular candidate.

In the event of a scenario like this, the agency has instructed the field enumerators to stop their household validation, return to the field office and make a report so that necessary investigation and action will be done, Garcia added.  (FREEMAN)