ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Libanan sees Philippines losing fewer mothers, newborns after Marcos order

Libanan sees Philippines losing fewer mothers, newborns after Marcos order

Published Jun 23, 2024 08:46 am

At A Glance

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

Gov't plans to distribute cash subsidy or food packs to select infants, pregnant women to improve their nutrition(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.

Related Tags

marcelino libanan pregnant women 4Ps President Marcos
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.