CCT beneficiaries pawning cash cards to loan sharks

MANILA, Philippines - Some beneficiaries of the government’s Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program in Valenzuela City are reportedly pawning their cash cards to loan sharks, the city’s Social Welfare and Development Office (SWDO) said yesterday.

SWDO officer-in-charge Dorothy Evangelista said they are verifying information that some CCT beneficiaries are borrowing money from loan sharks with their cash cards as collateral.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) implemented the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) in 2007 as a poverty alleviation program of the national government.

It gives cash grants to indigent families with children aged 14 and below. Beneficiaries receive P500 monthly allowance for health and nutrition expenses, while P300 is given per child for educational expenses.

A household with three children receives a maximum of P1,400 a month.

Household-beneficiaries are required to send the children to school to continue receiving the monthly subsidy from the government.

Evangelista said erring CCT beneficiaries pawning their cash cards would be removed from the program.

According to the DSWD, around 3.9 million families nationwide are enrolled in the program as of May this year.

There are around 11,288 CCT beneficiaries in Valenzuela City.

The DSWD said some 3,000 families nationwide have been removed from the program due to fraudulent acts.

Last July 18, the DSWD distributed 7,454 cash cards to the latest batch of CCT beneficiaries in Valenzuela City.