IBON: Unliquidated, unused Pantawid funds prove program ineffective

The billions worth of combined unliquidated funds, double payments and unused budget of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) prove that the government’s flagship anti-poverty program is not working, think thank Ibon Foundation said Thursday.

Casey Salamanca, senior researcher of Ibon Foundation, was referring to the major findings of the Commission on Audit (COA) in its annual audit report on the Department of Social Welfare and Development, which revealed that P10 billion of 4Ps fund was unliquidated as of December 2018; double payment was made to at least 209 household beneficiaries worth P3 million; and, that P462 million worth of 4Ps fund were unwithdrawn by the beneficiaries.

“These [findings] prove that the government is failing to address the CCT program’s inefficiencies after more than a decade, and this is just the tip of the iceberg,” Salamanca said.

The 4Ps program—a government initiative since 2008 that gives cash grants to poorest of the poor households in exchange for complying with conditions that promote human development goals—specifically provides a P500 monthly cash grant for health expenses or a total of P6,000 every year, and an education grant worth P300 per child every month for 10 months, or a total  of P3,000 every year.  Each household is allowed to register a maximum of three children for the program.

“The bigger problem with the government’s social protection program is that it will not result in poverty alleviation and vulnerability reduction for million of poor Filipinos unless the causes of poverty are address. More than dole outs, Filipinos demand decent jobs and accessible social services,” she added.

The 4Ps cash grants are distributed to the beneficiaries through the Landbank of the Philippines or through alternate payment schemes such as Globe G-Cash remittance and rural bank transactions.

The modes of payment for the 4Ps cash grants shall be as follows: Cash Card Automated Teller Machine, Over the Counter (OTC) and other modes of payment which can be done when the areas defined are not accessible to the Land Bank ATM for Cash Card mode, and the Land Bank cannot do offsite payments for OTC mode. —LDF, GMA News