The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will reinstate the 700,000 families who were delisted from the beneficiaries of the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), DSWD Secretary Erwin Tulfo said.
The said families were removed as beneficiaries following their inclusion in the “Listahanan 3,” which stated that the 1.3 million families listed should be removed since their living conditions have already improved.
Facing the Senate hearing on the proposed budget of the DSWD, Tulfo said the “Listahanan 3” have not been validated.
“Out of the 1.3 million considered poor during that time, more than 500,000 are no longer poor,” Tulfo said.
He stressed that the more than 700,000 should be returned to the 4Ps because of the pandemic. He added that “nobody got rich during the pandemic in 2020, and 2021. So we have to take them back,” referring to the said families.
Senator Imee Marcos said the list should be scrutinized as she said it’s likely some of the families no longer have children who go to school. She said this would mean they are no longer compliant with the qualifications of 4Ps. She also sought a review of the program.
Based on records, Marcos said since 2007, the government had spent P900 billion for 4Ps.
DSWD data showed that only 97,000 families graduated from the program.
“It is time we revisit the 4Ps, the government has spent so much. The only proven fact is that it helps in short-term poverty but has not established itself out of poverty,” she added.
Tulfo meanwhile said he is upbeat to finalize a program that will help street children and indigenous peoples like the Badjaos, Mangyans, and Aetas from the streets and round them up in the next weeks.
“We have a program which we are fixing now. We will be implementing it within the next few weeks,” Tulfo told the Senate hearing on their proposed P196.4 billion budget for next year.
He said their priority is to rescue street children not only in Metro Manila but in other parts of the country, to stop them from being exposed to dangers.
Tulfo noted that what the DSWD is implementing right now is a “band-aid” solution to the Badjaos, Mangyans, and Aetas roaming the streets begging. He admitted there are still no concrete plans for them.
The moment they used up all the money they got from begging during the Christmas season, they go back to the streets of Metro Manila.
Due to this, Tulfo said the DSWD plans to give them livelihood or any source of earning when brought back to their places.
In this way, he said no need for them to go to Metro Manila to beg during the Christmas season.
“We are planning to do this under the ‘Balik-Probinsiya’ program wherein they will be given fares to go back to their provinces. They will also be given homes and livelihood,” he said.
Tulfo further said they cannot properly help the Badjaos and the IPs since they have no birth certificates. “So now, we will start registering them in local government.”
Senator Robin Padilla, who chairs the Senate Committee on Cultural Communities and Muslim Affairs, meanwhile said he is ready to coordinate with the agencies to help the IPs.
“When Christmastime approaches, we see IPs such as our Badjao brethren on the streets, with their children. Our authorities would rescue them from the streets and send them to their home provinces, but they will keep coming back,” he said.
“Our DSWD has livelihood programs. This is a suggestion—can we teach them to earn a living without having to risk their lives?” he added.
Padilla said it is “very painful” to see, IPs going to Manila and begging for alms, considering they are “royal blood.”
Tulfo said they have programs like Balik Probinsya at Kalahi-CIDSS to help the IPs once they are brought to their homes, adding these must be implemented this year so they need not return to Manila next year.
For his part, NCIP chairman Allen Capuyan said they plan to replicate the program of the Davao City government where IPs are gathered at a venue for a cultural presentation, and donors at sponsors can go there.
Capuyan added they are coordinating with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) to teach IPs on weaving.