Erwin Tulfo: DSWD open to reviewing 4Ps Law

Social Welfare and Development Secretary Erwin Tulfo on Wednesday agreed that there is a need to review the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) Law.

During the Senate finance committee hearing on the DSWD's proposed P194.63 billion budget for 2023, Senator Imee Marcos asked if the conditional cash transfer program is effective in alleviating poverty.

Marcos, who presided over the hearing, said since 2007 the government has spent around P900 billion for the 4Ps program but only 97,000 have graduated from poverty.

"I think it's time that we revisit the 4Ps seriously because the government has spent so much and so far the only proven fact is that it helps in transient or short-term poverty but has not actually established itself as a pathway out of poverty," Marcos said.

"Kaya pinataanong dito sa Senado sulit ba itong programa natin na 4Ps?" she asked.

Tulfo, in response, said he will leave it to the judgment of the lawmakers as they are only mere implementers of the law.

"I agree with you na it's high time that we really have to revisit itong 4Ps na batas natin kasi I was a journalist back then during the time of President [Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo], I think it was an answer to the rising incidence of poverty," he mentioned.

Tulfo said he was "surprised" when the program was carried over by the succeeding administrations and a law was even passed for its implementation.

"Maganda naman ang layunin pero mukhang hindi po talagang napag-aralan nang maayos the way I look at it," he said.

"We will leave it to the hands of our legislators to make the decision as we are just the implementers of this program. So we leave that to the decision, the wise judgment of our legislators," Tulfo added.

Senator JV Ejercito also asked if there are exit mechanisms in the country's poverty alleviation strategy as it appears that the government has been "encouraging a culture of mendicancy" considering that it allocates huge funds to the 4Ps program annually.

The DSWD chief said they are currently implementing the Sustainable Livelihood Program and Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan - Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services Program.

Senator Risa Hontiveros earlier filed a resolution seeking to convene a joint congressional oversight committee to evaluate the need for the continuous implementation of the 4Ps Law.

Hontiveros said there is a "need to review and assess the program's implementation and develop strategies to make it more responsive and effective in achieving its set goal of breaking intergenerational poverty."

The 4Ps is a human development measure of the government that provides conditional cash grants to poor families for health, nutrition, and education of children. It started as the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) under President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. 

Additional budget

Meanwhile, the DSWD is requesting a P4.3-billion additional budget for 2023 to fund the Sustainable Livelihood Programs for graduates of the 4Ps.

For this year, DSWD Undersecretary Jerico Javier said only 140,054 can be covered by the funding of the 4Ps exit program.

Since 2011, he said the agency has catered to around 2 million households that applied for the SLP.

Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda asked if the DSWD would need augmentation of its budget for SLP considering that there are 4.2 million families that are currently enrolled in the 4Ps program.

"We are requesting P4.3 billion additional budget for SLP para madagdagan kasi medyo mababa talaga," Javier told the Senate panel.

The P4.3 billion requested funding for SLP will cater to 253,000 families, he added.

Tulfo explained the SLP will not only cater to the families that already graduated from the 4Ps program but also those who will need capital for their livelihood as long as they are qualified.

He said 80% of the SLP funds will go to the families who graduated from the government's conditional cash transfer program while 20% will proceed to non-4Ps families.

Legarda said she will make an amendment to augment the funding for the SLP but she said she might not push for P4.3 billion as she is not the chairperson of the subcommittee that deliberated the DSWD's budget.

"At a proper time perhaps I will make an amendment not to the tune of P4 billion because I'm not the chair of the committee," she said.

The Senate finance subcommittee has endorsed the DSWD's budget to the plenary for deliberations. — RSJ, GMA News