Families in Lapu-Lapu deceived: DSWD warns vs people extorting money for 4Ps

CEBU, Philippines - People posing as personnel of the Department of Social Welfare and Development are allegedly extorting from prospective poor beneficiaries for the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).

This was the warning issued yesterday by the DSWD after discovering unscrupulous groups collecting membership fees from families in Lapu-Lapu City in exchange for their supposed inclusion in the list of beneficiaries of the 4Ps.

“We urge the public to be vigilant and not to fall prey to these hustlers. We urged you to immediately report to the nearest DSWD office if you know of irregularities regarding the implementation of the program. You can also reach our Municipal/City Links for inquiries regarding Pantawid Pamilya,” DSWD-7 director Mercedita Jabagat said.

Jabagat revealed that they received reports that some unidentified personalities allegedly took advantage of the program by extorting money from the poor families.

She stressed that this is a “bogus” operandi since 4Ps does not collect membership fees just to become a beneficiary of the DSWD program.

DSWD’s official enumerators wear official Listahanan IDs with their photo, name, and signature of their DSWD regional director.

Phoebe Jen Indino, DSWD 7’s 4Ps information officer, said they already coordinated with the local government unit to help track these individuals and prevent them from further deceiving the public.

She said they conducted an orientation anew to brief the beneficiaries and prospective poor beneficiaries on the qualifications and criteria of the program.

“We keep on reminding the beneficiaries and the public that we do not collect membership fees for them to be included in the list of program beneficiaries,” said Indino.

Moreover, Jabagat clarified that a family cannot automatically be a beneficiary without going through series of evaluations.

She added that there are criteria to become beneficiaries of the program, such as residents of the poorest municipalities, based on the 2003 Small Area Estimates of the National Statistical Coordination Board; households whose economic condition is equal to or below the provincial poverty threshold; households that have children 0-18 years old and/or have a pregnant woman at the time of assessment; and households that agree to meet conditions specified in the program.

“Beneficiaries are selected through the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction or Listahanan, which identifies who and where the poor are in the country,” she said.

4Ps is a human 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 program covers three children-beneficiaries per household and provides a monthly education grant of P500 per household for high school student and P300 for elementary. The household-beneficiary will also receive P500 as monthly health grant or a total of P6,000 every year.

DSWD is the lead government agency implementing the program with over four million household beneficiaries nationwide. Of the total household-beneficiaries, about 250,000 are from Central Visayas. — Kristine B. Quintas/NSA (FREEMAN)