A panel in the House of Representatives has approved a bill institutionalizing the government’s doleout program, the “Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program” or 4Ps, and giving the poorest families cash grants up to a maximum of five years.
The House committee on poverty alleviation, chaired by Rep. Raymond Democrito Mendoza of TUCP party-list, approved the proposed “Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program Act,” which aims to reduce poverty and promote human capital development in the country “by breaking the inter-generational cycle of poverty, promoting gender equality, and ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education.”
The bill, authored by Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, provides each qualified household beneficiary a conditional cash transfer equivalent to P500 per month for health and nutrition expenses totaling P6,000 per year.
The 4Ps started during Arroyo’s presidency and was continued by the Aquino and Duterte administrations.
Under the bill, a maximum of three children per qualified household beneficiary shall be given conditional cash grants for education expenses of P300 per month per children enrolled in day-care, kindergarten, elementary for a 10-month school year, and P500 per month per child enrolled in secondary school for a 10-month school year.
The 4Ps bill mandates the Department of Social Welfare and Development to choose qualified household beneficiaries using a standardized targeting system and revalidate the targeting of beneficiaries every three years.
The bill states a Local Verification Committee shall be created in every municipality or city to ensure that the initial list of beneficiaries satisfies the eligibility requirements set forth under the Act.
The LVC will be composed of two local government unit representatives, a midwife from the barangay, a representative of a DSWD-accredited civil society organization, and a school head as designated by the Department of Education.
The funds necessary to carry out the provisions of the Act shall be charged against those authorized in the current and subsequent General Appropriations Acts.
The appropriation shall continue until the program has covered 60 percent of the total number of extremely poor households in the country, as may be determined by the Philippine Statistics Authority at the time of the enactment of the Act.
The bill penalizes any person conspiring with public officials to receive the cash grant. The penalty is imprisonment of one month to six months, or a fine of P10,000 to P20,000, or both imprisonment and fine, at the discretion of the court.