DSWD-7 Official Reiterates Continuity of Pantawid Pamilya

Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office VII Regional Director Ma. Evelyn Macapobre reiterated that Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) will continue under President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration.

Macapobre made the statement after receiving several inquiries about the continuity of the program in the region.
Pantawid Pamilya is the conditional cash transfer of the Philippine government that invests in the health and education of poor children aged 0-18.

In Central Visayas, there are about 191,156 active households with Cebu Province having the most number at 127,146 followed by Bohol with 60,155 and Siquijor with 3,855 as of October 2016.

It can be recalled that, Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo had earlier sought to put a stop to false reports circulating that the program of the department will no longer be implemented and that some 1.5 million of its current members will be delisted and no longer be beneficiaries.
“There is no truth to these reports, and 4Ps members will continue to benefit from the program.

We continue to assess the program as we also continue to conduct comprehensive consultations with DSWD Field Offices all over the country on the same. The program implementation has not been without many, many flaws, but this will not be held against the beneficiaries.

The aim of the program is to help its members to assist poor households with school age children and pregnant member by providing financial assistance subject to the conditions that the children go to school and undergo health checkup, the pregnant member undergo prenatal care and that the member attend monthly family seminars.

“It’s been seven years since the program began, and there have been success stories – many members acknowledge that their conditions have improved with the help of 4Ps. Still, there are many, many other Filipinos who are not members of the 4Ps program, and they have legitimate issues about not being admitted to the program: we cannot ignore their calls either.We seek to find effective means to address all these pressing demands using what powers and resources the department has,” Sec. Taguiwalo said.

The top welfare official, however, emphasized that the program will no longer expand, meaning it will not take in more members.
She pointed out that what the department is focused on is improving the coverage of the other services of the DSWD that are open to all poor and needy Filipinos who need emergency financial assistance, psycho-social interventions, as well as relief from natural disasters.

“Unlike the 4Ps scheme, the other services of the DSWD are not conditional,” she said.