Rep. Wilbert T Lee of AGRI party-list group has urged the immediate distribution of the cash grants for compliant Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) beneficiaries that were put on hold since last year.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) earlier halted the distribution of the cash grants due to their questionable delisting process.
During the plenary deliberation of the 2024 proposed budget of the DSWD, Lee sought clarification on whether the cash grants of the 1.1 million delisted families will be provided “retroactively” to all compliant beneficiaries affected by the sudden delisting of the DSWD.
“What we want to clarify: For those compliant beneficiaries who have been held, and assessed whether as poor or non-poor, will they be paid
retroactively; Can their cash grant be given from 2022 or from the last time they were given a cash grant up to 2023?” Lee asked.
“And from the time they are re-assessed as non-poor, we must give them a notice, 30 to 45 days, before we stop their payout so that they can
prepare and be given an adequate transition before being removed from the program.”
House committee on appropriations vice chairperson Jocelyn Limkaichong, a sponsor of the DSWD budget, confirmed on record that the
agency will distribute the unobligated cash grants with a total of P68.2 billion to delisted compliant beneficiaries immediately after
the ongoing assessment using the Social Welfare and Development Indicator (SWDI) that will end this September.
Upon Lee’s questioning, DSWD also confirmed that the resumption of payout can start in October this year.
Lee reiterated the need to provide this grant at the soonest possible time.
During the said budget deliberation, Lee also asked if the DSWD plans to increase the cash grant to 4Ps beneficiaries as recommended by the
Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), which he had been pushing for the past several months.