ILOILO City – An additional 16,562 beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) in Western Visayas have been recommended for “graduation” from the program after they were validated to be “non-poor” already.
According to Belen Gebusion, the 4Ps Division Chief of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Region 6, this was the result of the massive validation conducted by the regional office on 87,728 household beneficiaries tagged as “non-poor” based on the results of the Listahanan 3 Assessment.
“This calls for a massive celebration. Ang result nagapahayag nga ini nga mga panimalay naka-achieve na sang klase sang pagbag-o ukon kadalag-an sa estado sang ila pagpangabuhi. Sila makabig na nga makatindog ukon makasarang na sa ila pagpangabuhi therefore minimal na lang siguro ang bulig nga kinanglan halin sa gobyerno,” said Gebusion.
The regional office earlier announced the holding off of the cash grants of these 87,728 4Ps households while the validation was still ongoing.
“Natapos na ang validation sa Region 6 and we already submitted the validation to the central office and out of the 87,728 ka households naton, 16,562 ang gin-recommend naton nga indeed non-poor na gid man sila and for delisting,” said Gebusion.
The division chief, however, emphasized that there is no final decision yet; the final verdict will come from the DSWD central office.
For now, Gebusion said, while they are waiting for the final decision and DSWD still conducting the exit procedure, these Pantawid households are advised to continue complying with the program’s conditions.
Around 300,000 households in the region are 4Ps beneficiaries.
While the cash grants of the 87,728 beneficiaries are on hold while waiting for the decision of the central office, those over 200,000 beneficiaries not tagged as non-poor will continue to receive cash grants.
The 4Ps provides conditional cash grants to the poorest of the poor to improve the health, nutrition, and the education of children aged 0 to 18 years old.
To receive subsidies, the following 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
* Children-beneficiaries aged 3-18 must enroll in school, and maintain an attendance of at least 85% of class days every month.
“Indeed education is a key for poor family to graduate or get out from the cycle of poverty. That is basically the thrust of the Pantawid program. We are investing sa mga kabataan nga kon maka-graduate makabulig gid sa ila tagsa-tagsa ka pamilya,” said Gebusion.
Meanwhile, of the 87,728 household beneficiaries in the region who were assessed and validated, over 57,000 were recommended for retention while more than 14,032 are inactive or delisted as they have already graduated earlier from the program.
“Ang 57,000 beneficiaries indi pa gid makabig nga makasarang ukon makatindog sa ila pagpangabuhi. Damu pa need para mahambal naton ukon para ma-achieve ang self-sufficient of well-being,” Gebusion explained.
“We are banking on the commitment of our Secretary Erwin Tulfo that the result of the validation will determine in terms of the status of these Pantawid households,” she added./PN
