The Zero Extreme Poverty 2030 PH Movement (ZEP) found ways to reach out to communities living in poverty and endeavored to know how they have fared in the pandemic. With its partners, the United Nations Development Programme in the Philippines (UNDP) and AI4Gov, ZEP conceptualized and implemented COVID Pulse PH, a survey tool deployed through messenger chatbots that can be accessed by poor households. ZEP tapped its members CENVISNET, Partnership of Philippine Support Service Agencies (PHILSSA) and CODE-NGO to gather its members to facilitate the deployment of the chatbot survey in the community. The CSOs involved in the Metro Manila deployment are Aksyon sa Kahandaan sa Kalamidad at Klima (AKKMA), Educational Research and Development Assistance (ERDA) Foundation, Community Organizers Multiversity (COM), Foundation for Development Alternatives (FDA), Foundation for the Development of the Urban Poor (FDUP), Kalipunan ng mga Sektor sa Caloocan (KASECA), Muntinlupa Development Foundation (MDF), Peoples Alternative Study Center for Research and Education In Social Development (PASCRES) and areas of Hapag-asa, Caritas, International Care Ministries (ICM) and Promised Land Child Development Ministries. In Metro Cebu the survey was facilitated through the efforts of ZEP members and partners – CENVISNET, Fellowship for Organizing Endeavors (FORGE), A2D, Feed the Children, Initiative for Movement-building, Political Action, and Community Transformation (ImPACT) and the Cebu Integrated Network of Youth Organizations.

The survey results show and validate the fears of development actors regarding income loss, food insecurity, and rise in poverty as effects of the pandemic. For example, in Phase 1 which was rolled out in May 2020 that reached 3,144 poor and vulnerable households within 10 cities in Metro Manila and 4 cities in Metro Cebu, 83% of households report a decline in income with 32% declaring total loss of income. With businesses closing down and unemployment at an all-time high, job insecurity is a consistent sentiment shared by the respondents, among which 2 out of 3 are working in the informal sector.

Alongside the grim statistics shine a sliver of hope as the survey also asks respondents about their “diskarte” to make ends meet. Despite the hardships that the households were experiencing, there are uplifting stories of individuals who came up with ingenious methods to get by. From backyard gardening, online selling, and relying on cheaper sources of food – 68% of households used different coping strategies to provide for their family and survive the pandemic.

The volunteer enumerators who helped facilitate the utilization of chatbots to answer the survey see another angle in the whole process. The community facilitators, parent-leaders, social workers and community organizers assisted the household heads in answering the survey using smartphones and free data, or sent out the survey link to younger heads so they could respond remotely. Everyone picked up important lessons and insights. The respondents from the communities saw the gesture of volunteers who reach out to them as some form of “help”. By simply asking about their situation through “kamustahan”, the people in the communities felt grateful for being given a chance to tell their story. The chatbot therefore provided an innovative method of collecting data in n inclusive and potentially real-time manner. Not only can this potentially bridge the digital divide, but it also provides a safe space for the poor to share their sentiments. Indeed, recovery starts with a simple “Kumusta ka?” [How are you?]

This article is part of the CODE-NGO Annual Report for CY 2020 – CODE-NGO.