Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Erwin Tulfo has been steadfast in removing “unqualified” and “ineligible” beneficiaries from the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) to provide better service to Filipinos who are truly in need of cash grants.
Tulfo has directed the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program-National Program Management Office (4Ps-NPMO) to cleanse its list of program beneficiaries by identifying the 4Ps families with children who have finished their studies, as they are already considered ineligible to become program beneficiaries.
Based on the existing guidelines of the 4Ps, those who have graduated or exited from the program and were assessed as self-sufficient are being removed from the roster of active members, thus should no longer receive any cash grants.
Tulfo has also ordered the 4Ps-NPMO to check on the behavior and compliance of the beneficiaries to the program conditions.
To be considered as a self-sufficient household, the family-beneficiary should have enough income at the time of graduation; can cope with their daily needs; and has achieved the first two levels of Social Worker Development Indicators, which are survival and subsistence.
Other factors for delistment are as follows:
- Last monitored child in the household turns 19 years old;
- Last monitored child in the household finishes high school;
- Household reaches the seven-year duration in the program;
- Household voluntarily waives its membership from the program
- Household commits offenses
However, the graduates will be monitored by their respective local government units and for possible provision of other appropriate assistance to enable them to sustain or further improve their economic status.
Regular update of 4Ps list
Following the current implementation of the program, DSWD said that the list of beneficiaries is regularly updated in the Beneficiary Data and Management System to reflect active beneficiaries who may receive cash grants, subject to the monitoring and evaluation of their compliance with the conditions provided by Republic Act 11310 or the 4Ps Act.
DSWD pointed out that the delisting of unqualified and ineligible beneficiaries is being done through a Grievance Redress System with mechanisms from the national, regional to the municipal levels nationwide to ensure that only eligible and qualified beneficiaries will be provided with grants from the government.
The 4Ps is an investment in human capital which seeks to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty by focusing on education and health of the beneficiaries.
According to the Official Gazette, the 4Ps has two types of cash grants that are given out to household-beneficiaries:
- health grant — P500 per household every month, or P6,000 every year
- education grant — P300 per child every month for 10 months, or 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 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.
Assessment of non-poor Filipinos
Meanwhile, the DSWD said that changes in the list of beneficiaries will be implemented as the Listahanan 3, also known as the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction, is about to conclude its final phase.
Currently, over 1 million beneficiaries have been assessed as non-poor, which will be processed for their immediate graduation from the program, the DSWD said.
However, during the conduct of the Listahanan 3, some 4Ps beneficiaries were not assessed because of not updated residence, while others did not agree to be interviewed.
Some beneficiaries are also required to undergo a proxy means test (PMT) to determine if they are poor or not.
The PMT is used to estimate household welfare level based on their income indicators, such as materials in housing structure, household access to basic services and facilities like water and electricity, and ownership of specific assets, among others.
DSWD assured the public that systems and policies are in place to ensure smooth implementation of the program, including the 4Ps Kilos-Unlad Social Case Management Strategy which is considered a critical intervention with the beneficiaries in improving their well-being before they exit from the program.