ILOILO City – No politician can remove beneficiaries from the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Western Visayas reiterated this amid concerns that the conditional cash transfer program may be used by unscrupulous politicos to blackmail poor beneficiaries.
There were 332,532 4Ps beneficiaries in the region, data from DSWD Region 6 showed.
“DSWD remains apolitical,” stressed Regional Director Ma. Evelyn Macapobre.
Only the DSWD has the authority to delist beneficiaries from 4Ps, Macapobre clarified but she also stressed, “Hindi lang sila tatanggalin na walang dahilan.”
The 4Ps is a human development measure of the national government that provides conditional cash grants to the poorest of the poor, to improve the health, nutrition, and the education of children aged zero 18 years old.
It is patterned after the conditional cash transfer (CCT) schemes in Latin American and African countries, which have lifted millions of people around the world from poverty.
DSWD is the lead government agency of the 4Ps.
Macapobre said 4Ps beneficiaries could only be delisted for non-compliance to the program’s conditions.
In order to receive the 4Ps subsidies, all the succeeding conditions must be met by the household-beneficiaries:
* Pregnant women must avail pre- and post-natal care, and be attended during childbirth by a trained professional;
* Parents or guardians must attend the family development sessions, which include topics on responsible parenting, health, and nutrition;
* Children aged 0-5 must receive regular preventive health check-ups and vaccines;
* Children aged 6-14 must receive deworming pills twice a year; and
* Children-beneficiaries aged 3-18 must enroll in school, and maintain an attendance of at least 85% of class days every month.
Another reason for delisting would be the beneficiaries’ pawning of their 4Ps cash cards despite repeated warnings and counseling, said Macapobre.
The 4Ps has two types of cash grants that are given out to household-beneficiaries – the health grant (P500 per household every month, or a total of P6,000 every year), and the education grant (P300 per child every month for 10 months, or a total of P3,000 every year; a household may register a maximum of three children for the program).
For a household with three children, a household may receive P1,400 every month, or a total of P15,000 every year for five years, from the two types of cash grants given to them.
These cash grants are distributed to the household-beneficiaries through the Land Bank of the Philippines or, if not feasible, through alternate payment schemes such as Globe G-Cash remittance and rural bank transactions.
No politician can also delist beneficiaries from DSWD’s social pension program for senior citizens, said Director Macapobre.
There are 365,908 social pension beneficiaries in Region 6.
Beneficiaries may only be removed from the program if they are found to have not actually met the qualifications. These are the following:
* must be 60 years old and above;
* must be frail, sickly or with disability;
* must have no pension from the Government Service Insurance System, Social Security System, Philippine Veterans Affairs Office, Armed Forces and Police Mutual Benefit Association, Inc. or any other insurance company;
* must have no permanent source of income;
* must have no regular support from family or relatives for his or her basic needs;
Macapobre said beneficiaries of 4Ps and the social pension program will remain for as long as they are eligible and continue to meet the criteria for qualification.
“We will continue with our service delivery to the people with whom we owe allegiance to,” said Macapobre.
The 4Ps has dual objectives as the flagship poverty alleviation program of the government. These are:
* social assistance – giving monetary support to extremely poor families to respond to their immediate needs; and
* social development – breaking the intergenerational poverty cycle by investing in the health and education of poor children/PN
