Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Erwin Tulfo on Wednesday, July 13 warned loan sharks against accepting cash cards as pawn from Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) beneficiaries.

“We would like to take the opportunity to warn loan sharks, yung mga tumatanggap, bawal po yan na tumanggap po kayo ng mga isasanla sa inyo na 4Ps cash card kasi po labag po sa batas yan (those accepting 4Ps card as pawn, you are prohibited from accepting this because it is against the law),” Tulfo said in an interview with ANC.

The DSWD chief noted reports reaching his office about loan sharks charging 20 percent to 40 percent from the monthly conditional cash transfer.

“So nababawasan ng halos 40 percent yung monthly assistance ng gobyerno sa kanila (So the government’s monthly assistance to them is reduced by almost 40 percent), Tulfo said.

“You could go to jail, you can end up in jail, kapag nahuli namin kayong loan sharks (if we caught you, loan sharks). Bawal po itong tanggapin at isanla sa inyo, yung mga cash card na ito (That is prohibited if you accept these cash cards as pawn),” he added.

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 a total of 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.