Pantawid Pamilya Does Not Collect Membership Fees – DSWD

“We do not collect membership fees to become Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries,” stressed Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office VII regional director Mercedita P. Jabagat.

Jabagat made the statement after recieving a report that some individuals are taking advantage of the program by asking membership fees to become beneficiaries of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, the Philippine government’s version of conditional cash tranfer.

“Beneficiaries are selected through the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) or Listahanan, which identifies who and where the poor are in the country,” said Jabagat.

She pointed out that there are criteria to become beneficiaries of the program and these include the following: Residents of the poorest municipalities, based on 2003 Small Area Estimates (SAE) of the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB), Households whose economic condition is equal to or below the provincial poverty threshold, Households that have children 0-18 years old and/or have a pregnant woman at the time of assessment and Households that agree to meet conditions specified in the program.

“We encourage the public to be vigilant and not to fall prey to these hustlers. We urge you to immediately report to the nearest DSWD office if you know of irregularities regarding the implementation of the program. You can also reach our Municipal/City Links for inquiries regarding Pantawid Pamilya,” Jabagat added.

Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program is a human development measure of the national government that provides conditional cash grants to the poorest of the poor, to improve the health, nutrition, and the education of children aged 0-18. It is patterned after the conditional cash transfer (CCT) schemes in Latin American and African countries, which have lifted millions of people around the world from poverty.

It covers three children-beneficiaries per household and provides a monthly education grant of P500 per household for high school student and P300 for elementary. The household-beneficiary will also receive P500 as monthly health grant or a total of P6,000 every year.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is the lead government agency implementing the program with over four million household beneficiaries nationwide. Of the total household-beneficiaries about 250,000 are from Central Visayas. (Phoebe Jen Indino-Pantawid Pamilya Information Officer)