De Lima files bill to institutionalize 4Ps anti-poverty program
Published Sep 22, 2018 12:18 pm
By Mario Casayuran
Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima has filed a bill seeking to institutionalize the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) as one of the regular poverty reduction programs of the government for qualified poor families across the country.
Senator Leila de Lima
(REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco / MANILA BULLETIN) Since 4Ps is just a mere policy program which is not yet passed into law, there is a tendency for the next administration to scrap it which would heavily burden the poor families benefitting from it, de Lima, a member of the Senate minority bloc, explained. De Lima’s Senate Bill (SB) 2016 seeks to ensure that the continuation of the conditional cash transfer (CCT) assistance for the qualified beneficiaries in terms of health, education and other basic needs will not be dependent on future administrations. “Government must provide the basic needs of our vulnerable citizens: food, health and education – which are the core mandates of human rights, and is the very centerpiece of social justice,” de Lima said. “It is our solemn duty to ensure its sustainable implementation, protection from political patronage and insulation from government transition that can weaken the impact of the program,” she explained. Deemed as a national poverty reduction strategy and a human capital investment program, the 4Ps provides CCT to poor households for a maximum period of seven years, to improve the health, nutrition and education. The cash transfers are conditional upon child beneficiaries’ enrolment in school and their requirement to meet a required class attendance and upon mothers and pregnant women availing of pre- and post-natal care to be attended during childbirth by a trained health professional, among others. Under the bill, de Lima proposed to expand the health and nutrition expenses of the qualified beneficiaries from P600 to P750 every month to compensate for the rising prices of rice and other basic health and nutrition needs of the poor. “Now that our country’s economy is failing and the people are experiencing crippling levels of inflation, we need to ensure that financial assistance would be provided for those in need of aid,” she said. De Lima’s bill also provides loan assistance for livelihood opportunities or employment facilitation to beneficiaries who successfully complete the required skills training programs under the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Sustainable Livelihood Program ((DSWD-SLP). “As an alternative, the beneficiary may opt to also avail of the employment facilitation track provided by the SLP or other employment programs of appropriate government agencies implementing the same,” she explained. To ensure the effective and transparent implementation of 4Ps, de Lima batted for the establishment of two key oversight bodies to consistently oversee the massive poverty reduction program and avoid leakages and gaps. One of such bodies is an Advisory Council which should be created at the regional and national level to monitor and assess actions and activities relative to the implementation of the program, she explained. She also proposed a Joint Congressional Oversight Committee which is expected to set the overall framework to review the implementation of the Act even as it determines inherent weaknesses in the law and recommends necessary remedial legislation.
Senator Leila de Lima(REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco / MANILA BULLETIN) Since 4Ps is just a mere policy program which is not yet passed into law, there is a tendency for the next administration to scrap it which would heavily burden the poor families benefitting from it, de Lima, a member of the Senate minority bloc, explained. De Lima’s Senate Bill (SB) 2016 seeks to ensure that the continuation of the conditional cash transfer (CCT) assistance for the qualified beneficiaries in terms of health, education and other basic needs will not be dependent on future administrations. “Government must provide the basic needs of our vulnerable citizens: food, health and education – which are the core mandates of human rights, and is the very centerpiece of social justice,” de Lima said. “It is our solemn duty to ensure its sustainable implementation, protection from political patronage and insulation from government transition that can weaken the impact of the program,” she explained. Deemed as a national poverty reduction strategy and a human capital investment program, the 4Ps provides CCT to poor households for a maximum period of seven years, to improve the health, nutrition and education. The cash transfers are conditional upon child beneficiaries’ enrolment in school and their requirement to meet a required class attendance and upon mothers and pregnant women availing of pre- and post-natal care to be attended during childbirth by a trained health professional, among others. Under the bill, de Lima proposed to expand the health and nutrition expenses of the qualified beneficiaries from P600 to P750 every month to compensate for the rising prices of rice and other basic health and nutrition needs of the poor. “Now that our country’s economy is failing and the people are experiencing crippling levels of inflation, we need to ensure that financial assistance would be provided for those in need of aid,” she said. De Lima’s bill also provides loan assistance for livelihood opportunities or employment facilitation to beneficiaries who successfully complete the required skills training programs under the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Sustainable Livelihood Program ((DSWD-SLP). “As an alternative, the beneficiary may opt to also avail of the employment facilitation track provided by the SLP or other employment programs of appropriate government agencies implementing the same,” she explained. To ensure the effective and transparent implementation of 4Ps, de Lima batted for the establishment of two key oversight bodies to consistently oversee the massive poverty reduction program and avoid leakages and gaps. One of such bodies is an Advisory Council which should be created at the regional and national level to monitor and assess actions and activities relative to the implementation of the program, she explained. She also proposed a Joint Congressional Oversight Committee which is expected to set the overall framework to review the implementation of the Act even as it determines inherent weaknesses in the law and recommends necessary remedial legislation.