(MANILA BULLETIN)

AGRI Party-list Rep. Wilbert T. Lee is appealing to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to hasten the process for the increase of cash grants or "ayuda" under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).

This, as the rookie congressman expressed worries during a recent hearing of the House Committee on Poverty Alleviation that proposed laws to hike the grants could take until the year 2025 before they could he enacted and implemented.

"Hindi man kasing taas ng nasa proposed bills ngayon, siguradong malaki na ang maitutulong sa 4.4 milyon na pamilyang benepisyaryo ang anumang dagdag na halaga para maibsan ang pasanin nila mula sa epekto ng pandemya at mataas na presyo ng bilihin (It may not be as large a hike compared to what the bills are proposing, but any amount would still be of huge help to the 4.4 million family-beneficiaries that are grappling with the effects of the pandemic and high prices of goods)," Lee said.

Under Section 7 of Republic Act (RA) No.11310 or the 4Ps Act, the National Advisory Council (NAC) is mandated to determine the amount of cash grants to be distributed to beneficiaries.

The DSWD is the lead agency of the council. 4Ps is the flagship poverty alleviation program of the Philippine government.

Lee is the principal author of the “Expanded 4Ps Act” which seeks to provide capacity building—specifically education, entrepreneurship training, and skills upgrading—for adult beneficiaries. The measure was approved by the House Committees on Appropriations and Poverty Alleviation last May 16.

Section 10 of RA No.11310 states that the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) is mandated every six years after the effectivity of the law “to recommend to the NAC whether the cash grants shall be adjusted to its present value using the consumer price index, as published by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)".

It added that “The NAC shall ensure that the grant amounts are sufficient to make a positive impact on the health, nutrition, and education of the beneficiaries and are timely received and spent by the beneficiaries.”

The 4Ps Act was approved on April 17, 2019.

During the said committee hearing, Lee cited an April 28, 2023 PIDS report indicating their proposed increase in 4Ps cash grants. The following adjustments were recommended based on the report:

• From P750 to P906 increase in health grant per month per household;

• From P300 to P362 increase in education allowance per month for every child enrolled in day care and elementary for maximum of 10 months every year;

• From P500 to P604 increase in education allowance per month for every child enrolled in junior high school for maximum of 10 months every year; and

• From P700 to P846 increase in education allowance per month for every child enrolled in Senior High School for maximum of 10 months every year.

Lee also shared a PIDS report dated May 29, 2023 that said “following the unprecedented and damaging impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on property and the prevailing global crisis affecting the prices of basic commodities,” the maximum amount of P31,200 that can be received by a household beneficiary in a year has been reduced to more than half of its original value to only P14,524.

“Malinaw na kulang na kulang ang natatanggap ng 4Ps beneficiaries. At nakasaad sa batas na dapat siguruhin ng NAC na sapat ang cash grant lalo na kung may rekomendasyon na galing sa PIDS (Clearly, 4Ps beneficiaries aren't receiving enough. And the law states the NAC must ensure that the cash grants are of ample amount especially if there are recommendations coming from PIDS)," he said.