The government has begun shifting its Unified Package for Livelihoods, Industry, Food, and Transport (UPLIFT) response toward a more targeted and data-driven rollout of assistance, focusing on validated beneficiaries and coordinated delivery systems, a Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev) official said Wednesday.

DEPDev Undersecretary Joseph Capuno said the shift is a move from initial emergency mobilization to tighter implementation tracking and coordination across agencies to improve the impact of relief measures.

Capuno said the program is consolidating data across agencies to better match aid with actual beneficiaries and reduce overlaps.

“Agencies are consolidating updated information… covering targets, actual beneficiaries, appropriations, obligations, disbursements and other implementation concerns,” he said during a Senate PROTECT Committee hearing.

He added that beneficiary lists are now being cross-checked across systems to ensure accuracy and proper targeting.

“Beneficiary lists are being progressively reconciled across relevant agencies and systems… to improve alignment and reduce overlap as the package expands,” he said.

The next phase of UPLIFT will prioritize programs with confirmed beneficiaries and delivery channels, while scaling up support where implementation is already validated, he added.

“Agencies will accelerate delivery where beneficiaries, payment channels, routes, stations, and rollout arrangements are already validated,” he said.

He said the shift to a more data-driven approach aims to ensure that assistance remains responsive to actual conditions on the ground.

UPLIFT was activated by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. through Executive Order No. 110 as part of a whole-of-government response to mitigate the impact of rising oil prices and Middle East tensions. (PNA)