4Ps beneficiaries list to be slashed

CEBU, Philippines - Tight screening measures will be instituted to ensure that list of beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamil-yang Pilipino Program (4Ps) are really members of the marginalized sector and that aid will go only to where it is most needed.

Aileen Lariba, the government 4P’s regional information officer of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, said the agency is shaving the list of beneficiaries after allegations that there are beneficiaries far less deserving.

Lariba said the DSWD is now hiring 62 validators and 15 data encoders for the validation project of the agency’s conditional cash transfer program.

Cash grants covering the education, health and nutrition needs for the children of the beneficiaries up to 14 years of age will continue to be given upon the fulfillment of the conditions prescribed by the 4Ps with a maximum limit of three children per household beneficiary.

The educational cash assistance is P3,000 per year or P300 per month per household while the cash grant for health and nutrition is P500 per month per household beneficiary.

Lariba said the DSWD will conduct the validation in response to complaints that some beneficiaries are not qualified for the cash transfer.

“This may be due to faulty data generated during the initial National Household Targeting System survey years ago,” Lariba said, adding that so much has happened between the survey enumeration and the time when the cash transfer was handed that may have drastically altered the living conditions of those who have been initially identified.

Those who want to apply for validators must have completed at least two years in college or must have finished a two-year course while those who want to apply for data encoders must have a background in Information Technology and other IT-related courses.

Lariba said the DSWD prefers that applicants for the two positions to be not more than 50 years old and physically fit.

“Once accepted, they will be fielded to project sites all over the region and will be deployed to provinces including far-flung mountain villages for their validation tasks,” she said.

The hired applicants will receive the minimum wage rate good for 15 days of work, including Saturdays and Sundays.

Interested applicants may submit their application letter, resume, transcript of records or diploma to the DSWD office located at corner M.J. Cuenco Ave., and Gen. Maxilom St., Cebu City. 

The deadline for submission of application is on October 30, 2011.

Based on the list, the DSWD has originally targeted some 148,000 beneficiaries for the 4Ps program in Central Visayas but due to misconceptions, inclusion errors and de-listing, the number of beneficiaries actually covered by the program in the region has been reduced to 137,000.

Lariba said families not complying with program requirements, including parents not attending regular meetings, have been delisted from the 4Ps.

She also said the number of beneficiaries delisted is minimal even as she strongly urged those that are still taking part in the program to continue remaining active members. —/BRP (FREEMAN)