President Marcos has ordered the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to ensure that the peso value of government assistance will not diminish.

Marcos made the directive during a sectoral meeting in Malacañan on Tuesday, Feb. 20, to discuss the government's assistance programs such as the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).

The President tasked the DSWD to look for ways to ensure that the government’s assistance to the poorest of the poor will be protected from economic variables such as inflation.

"We just finished a sectoral meeting with the President at isa sa mga inatasan niyang pag-aralan namin is paano huwag mag-diminish or mabawasan iyong halaga ng mga financial assistance or grants na ibinibigay natin sa ating mahihirap na kababayan (and one of his orders is to study ways to prevent the value of our financial assistance given to the poor from diminishing)," DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian said in a Palace briefing.

Gatchalian stressed the need to protect the value of the government grants amid inflation.

"Alam naman natin na ginagawa ng economic team lahat para mapababa ang inflation pero habang ginagawa iyon, kailangan kaakibat iyong pagprotekta sa value ng… peso value ng mga grants na ibinibigay natin katulad sa 4Ps at sa iba pang mga programa na nakatuon sa pagbigay ng social protection sa pinakamahihirap nating mga kababayan (We know that the economic team is doing everything they can to bring down inflation but while they are doing that, we need to protect the peso value of the grants that the government is giving like the 4Ps and other program intended to give social protection to our poorest fellowmen)," he said.    

The DSWD chief also said that Marcos emphasized the need to address stunting in the country by finding other ways to incorporate it into government assistance programs.

Marcos further underscored the need to finish and implement the Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS) so that government assistance is given all the way to the individuals in need.

CBMS is a census of households undertaken by the local government units (LGUs). It will be used by local governments, national agencies, and non-governmental and civil society organizations for planning, budgeting, and implementing development programs.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, which is mandated to implement CBMS, it involves generation of data at the local level which serves as a basis in targeting households for government programs geared towards poverty alleviation and economic development.