(MANILA BULLETIN)

Following President Marcos’ order to expand the coverage of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) by including pregnant and lactating women, a veteran lawmaker in the House of Representatives expects the Philippines to lose fewer mothers and newborns from pregnancy complications.

In a statement on Sunday, June 23, House Minority Leader and 4Ps Party-list Rep. Marcelino “Nonoy” Libanan said this additional supplemental cash assistance would go a long way toward improving the health and well-being of mothers and their newborns.

“The fresh cash aid will give more meaning and substance to the 4Ps as the government’s flagship human capital and social development program,” Libanan said.

According to the lawmaker, the country is losing “six to seven Filipino women every day” who are mostly from poor households on account of complications from pregnancy or childbirth.

“We are also losing 14 newborns per 1,000 live births due to premature birth complications, congenital anomalies and infections,” he added.

During a recent sectoral meeting on proposed reforms to 4Ps, Marcos ordered the add-on cash transfers to be within the first 1,000 days of the mothers’ newborns.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has said that this will ensure that mothers would seek health services to address the health needs of their children.

With this new cash assistance, Libanan said the country will be able to achieve the 2030 global social development goals set by the United Nations (UN).

The UN is eyeing the reduction of the global maternal mortality rate to less than 70 per 100,000 live births, and lower the newborn (under a month old) mortality rate to at least as low as 12 per 1,000 live births.

Libanan, a member of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC), is urging the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to include the funding for extra cash grants in the 2025 general appropriations bill.

Under the 2024 budget, the 4Ps have an allocation of P106.3 billion.

The program currently provides household-beneficiaries with health and education grants, as well as monthly rice subsidies in cash.