‘Graduating’ 4Ps beneficiaries can qualify for other programs

MANILA, Philippines — Exiting beneficiaries of the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program can still avail themselves of programs for indigent families other than 4Ps, an official of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said yesterday.

DSWD Assistant Secretary for strategic communications Romel Lopez said the agency would provide other programs and services to the graduating 4Ps members to help them sustain their self-sufficiency and further improve their well-being.

“The good thing is, just like our Food Stamp Program, although we cannot include everyone from 4Ps, we can implement other DSWD programs to augment or help in the poverty alleviation side of our fellow Filipinos who are the poorest of the poor,” Lopez said.

Among other programs that “graduating” 4Ps beneficiaries can avail themselves of are the Sustainable Livelihood Program and the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation, according to Lopez, who made the disclosure in an interview with Sen. Francis Tolentino and Transportation Undersecretary Cesar Chavez over radio dzRH.

The DSWD will also endorse the exiting 4Ps beneficiaries to their respective local government units (LGUs), along with their case folders, that will guide the local Social Welfare and Development Office in identifying the programs and services that the families may need.

There are about 339,660 households that were assessed as Level 3 or self-sufficient, which are automatically recommended for graduation or exit from the program, according to a recent revalidation conducted by the DSWD upon the directive of Secretary Rex Gatchalian.

Meanwhile, over 760,000 households will be retained by the agency in the list of 4Ps beneficiaries.

More than 1.1 million beneficiaries were earlier assessed as non-poor under the Listahan 3 of the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction.

The 4Ps is the national poverty reduction strategy and a human capital investment program of the government that provides conditional cash transfer to qualified households. It is a human development program that provides social protection, social assistance, social development and other complementary support services in partnership with concerned agencies, LGUs and other stakeholders toward improving the health and nutrition, education and socio-economic aspects of the beneficiaries.