DSWD: No public funds used for mobile phones distributed to 4Ps beneficiaries
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) assured the public on Wednesday, April 2 that the mobile phones distributed to beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) were not funded by taxpayers’ money.
4Ps Social Marketing Division Chief Marie Grace Ponce said the mobile phones were donated by Globe Telecom and G-Xchange, Inc., the operator of GCash, to assist 4Ps beneficiaries living at the survival level and in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas.
She added that the provision of mobile phones enables beneficiaries to access their cash grants through digital platforms and eliminates the need to withdraw from automated teller machines (ATMs).
“Wala pong ginastos ang ating pamahalaan sa mga cellphone na ito. Hindi po natin ginamit ang pera ng mga taxpayers para makabili ng cellphone at maipamigay sa ating mga beneficiaries,” Ponce said during DSWD’s online program “4Ps Fastbreak.”
(Our government did not spend any money on these mobile phones. We did not use taxpayers’ money to buy phones and distribute them to our beneficiaries).
Ponce also explained that the initiative will allow beneficiaries to apply the digital financial literacy skills they have learned in family development sessions and enable them to manage their finances better using e-wallets and other digital tools.
The mobile phone distribution is part of the “e-Panalo ang Kinabukasan” financial digital initiative. It aims to teach and encourage 4Ps beneficiaries, particularly those in remote areas, to utilize digital applications to better manage their finances.
On March 18, about 50 beneficiaries from Navotas and Malabon received mobile phones through the agency’s private partners.
The distribution will be expanded to the Cordillera Administrative Region, Mimaropa, and Davao Region in the coming months.