4.4 million Filipinos to benefit from 4Ps in 2023

Around 4.4 million poor Filipinos are expected to benefit from the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) in 2023, Senator Imee Marcos said Monday evening.

Marcos, a sponsor of the DSWD’s P194.6 billion 2023 proposed budget, said the agency cannot cater to beneficiaries above its annual target due to the budgetary constraints of the conditional cash program. 

“Nasa 4.4 million beneficiaries pa rin ang target households for 2022 and this will continue to 2023,” the senator said during the Plenary debates.

(Our beneficiaries and target households for 2022 are still at 4.4 million and this will continue to 2023.)

“Year-on-year, yung target beneficiaries kasi ng 4Ps nakapako sa 4.4M at ‘yun lang ang kinakaya ng budget. ‘Yun ang mahirap gampanan kasi…lumolobo ang nasa hanay ng mahihirap kaya di sapat ‘yung binibilang natin kasi kahit nabawasan, nadagdagan naman,” she added.

(Our 4Ps beneficiaries are at 4.4M year-on-year because that is the only number our budget can support. That’s the difficult part.  The number of poor Filipinos is rising so it’s not enough to just count who graduates, because there are beneficiaries added to the program.)

To recall, DSWD Secretary Erwin Tulfo said around 600,000 non-compliant 4Ps beneficiaries may lose their financial aid.

But a review of the cases, Marcos said, showed they were not “fake beneficiaries” and were promptly reverted back to the “Listahan 3” database.

Further, the senator said around 443,000 households have newly enrolled in the program, which resulted in at least 1.3 million households currently benefiting from the 4Ps.

The 4Ps is a  poverty alleviation program of the national government that provides conditional cash grants to the poorest of the poor to respond to their immediate needs.

Among the conditions qualified households should meet for continued eligibility in the program are: pregnant women must avail of pre- and post-natal care and be attended to during childbirth by a trained professional; parents or guardians must attend the family development sessions, which include topics on responsible parenting, health, and nutrition; children aged 0-5 must receive regular preventive health check-ups and vaccines; children aged 6-14 must receive deworming pills twice a year; and children-beneficiaries aged 3-18 must enroll in school, and maintain an attendance of at least 85% of class days every month. -- BAP, GMA Integrated News