Over 4,000 4Ps kids now licensed teachers

MANILA, Philippines — More than 4,000 student-beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) have become licensed professional teachers, according to the Department of Social Welfare and Development, a feat that the government has highlighted as the impact of encouraging poor families to invest in education.

“This accomplishment highlights the positive impact of the 4Ps on the educational attainment of its beneficiaries and the importance of encouraging poor households to invest in the education of their children,” said DSWD spokesperson Irene Dumlao in a news release on Thursday.

In total, the office managing the 4Ps program has recorded a total of 1,225 elementary-level and 3,129 secondary-level education graduates who passed the licensure examination for teachers (LET), since the agency started monitoring LET takers among 4Ps recipients.

A number of these former 4Ps child beneficiaries also became topnotchers in the March 2024 LET, the DSWD said. 

This includes Khane Jevie Rose S. Cervantes ( top 1) from the Davao Region and Jennifer G. Manrique (top 9) from the MIMAROPA Region for the Elementary Level. 

For the secondary level, the topnotchers were Christian Albert B. Paskil and Clarence Joy D. Salmorin  from MIMAROPA (top 5); Jellian H. Calipes (top 6) from the Davao Region, and Joanne E. Cagata (top 8) from the Caraga region.

Patterned after the conditional cash transfer scheme used in other developing countries, the 4Ps program provides beneficiaries from the poorest households with cash grants as long as they comply with the set of conditions required by the program.

The 4Ps program is the DSWD's flagship poverty reducation and human capital investment program. It was launched in 2008 and institutionalized in 2019 by Republic Act 11310 or the 4Ps Act. — Cristina Chi