DSWD removes 1.3 million people from 4Ps

AT LEAST 1.3 million poor Filipinos who are beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program were taken out from the 4Ps, said Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles.

A tired fruit vendor dozes off in Zamboanga City. The DSWD says it removed at least 1.3 million poor Filipinos from the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program. (Photo by Al Jacinto)

Angeles said the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) headed by Secretary Erwin Tulfo de-listed the beneficiaries after validating that they are no longer qualified under the government’s pro-poor program.

“Of note is Sec. Erwin Tulfo’s declaration that in the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, at least 1.3 million beneficiaries out of 4.4 million are no longer considered poor as a qualification for the 4Ps benefits. This frees up P15 billion for other qualified persons to replace them and now be included in the 4Ps program,” she said.

She said Tulfo made the report before President Bongbong Marcos during a recent Cabinet meeting. It was unclear how the DSWD managed to validate the listing in just three weeks of the Marcos administration.

The DSWD is the lead government agency of the 4Ps, a development measure of the national government that provides conditional cash grants to the poorest of the poor, to improve the health, nutrition, and the education of children aged 0-18. It is patterned after the conditional cash transfer schemes in Latin American and African countries, which have lifted millions of people around the world from poverty.

The 4Ps also helps the Philippine government fulfill its commitment to the Millennium Development Goals, specifically in eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, in achieving universal primary education, in promoting gender equality, in reducing child mortality, and in improving maternal health care.

The program operates in all the 17 regions, covering 79 provinces, 143 cities, and 1,484 municipalities. Beneficiaries are selected through the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction, which identifies who and where the poor are in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)