High hopes for 4Ps as House leader cites hiked budget in P5.268-trillion NEP
Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Zaldy Co believes that the increase in the budget of the Department of Social Welfare and Development's (DSWD) flagship assistance program next year will help lift the country’s poorest of the poor out of poverty, malnutrition, and lack of opportunity and education.

According to Co, who is the House Committee on Appropriations chairman, the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps addresses both the immediate need for social assistance and the strategic goal to break the inter-generational cycle of poverty.
The allocation for 4Ps under the 2023 National Expenditure Program (NEP) is P115.6 billion. This is 7.3 percent higher than the enacted 2022 budget of P107.7 billion.
The 4Ps budget next year is expected to reach 4.4 million households, Co said.
The entire NEP or proposed spending plan for the country next year is worth P5.268 trillion. The NEP serves as the basis for the eventual budget bill that will emanate from the House of Representatives.
The appropriations panel briefing on the proposed P197-billion allocation for DSWD in 2023 was carried out by the appropriations panel Tuesday, Sept. 6.
“We commend the President for increasing the support for 4Ps in 2023,” he said.
Co noted that DSWD’s role at the height of the pandemic was “immense and immeasurable”.
DSWD’s various assistance programs allowed Filipinos to cope with the multiple and sometimes simultaneous crises brought about by lockdowns, typhoons, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes.
Enumerating the beneficiaries of DSWD's programs, Co said that around 700,000 households benefited from its disaster response program; 209,000 households received emergency shelter assistance and cash for work; 3.6 million individuals benefited from its Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations program (AICS); and 3.7 million senior citizens received social pensions.
“Your agency performance, at this time, needs not only praise and commendation but full support from the House of Representatives for all your programs and projects for fiscal year 2023,” Co said, referring to DSWD Secretary Erwin Tulfo who led agency officials during the budget briefing.