ILOILO City – Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) cash grants are downloaded to Land Bank of the Philippines and beneficiaries are issued with cash cards to withdraw the money from automated teller machines (ATMs).
However, some beneficiaries do not know how to use their cash cards and the ATMs, according to Belen Gebusion, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Region 6 4Ps coordinator.
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 0-18. It is patterned after the conditional cash transfer schemes in Latin American and African countries, which have lifted millions of people around the world from poverty.
There’s another hitch, according to Gebusion – there are not enough Land Bank ATMs.
Because of these, authorized Land Bank point of sales (POS) like cooperatives are being tapped for the release of the beneficiaries’ stipends, said Gebusion.
“They (POS) are the ones nga nagakadto sa mga munisipyo instead nga magplete pa ang mga beneficiaries,” said Gebusion.
She, however, clarified that it is not compulsory for 4Ps beneficiaries to get their stipends from Land Bank-authorized POS.
They may tap the ATMs of other banks, sad Gebusion.
Just like ATMs, Gebusion said, POS also charge service fee between P20 to P50.
DSWD refunds the service charge through Land Bank which deposits them to the beneficiaries’ cash cards in the next pay out.
The refund, she clarified, is only P20 – the service fee agreed by DSWD and Land Bank.
A recent incident involving 4Ps beneficiaries of Zarraga, Iloilo also reached DSWD-6’s attention.
On Tuesday, over 900 beneficiaries gathered at the Zarraga gym to get their cash grants through Land Bank’s authorized POS, Barbaza Multipurpose Cooperative.
The releasing started at around 3:30 p.m. and lasted past 9:30 p.m.
Land Bank’s system was off-line for much of the morning and early afternoon, explained Gebusion.
In general, the following criteria must be satisfied to become eligible for the 4Ps:
* residents of the poorest municipalities, based on 2003 Small Area Estimates (SAE) of the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB)
* households whose economic condition is equal to or below the provincial poverty threshold
* households that have children 0-18 years old and/or have a pregnant woman at the time of assessment
* households that agree to meet conditions specified in the program
To receive the 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 enrol in school, and maintain an attendance of at least 85 percent of class days every month./PN
