MANILA, Philippines — More than four million poor families covered by the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) will receive additional cash assistance under a bill passed by the House committee on appropriations.
The increased subsidy is contained in an expanded 4Ps bill the committee recently endorsed for plenary approval, Davao City Rep. Karlos Nograles said yesterday.
Nograles said household beneficiaries would each receive an additional P2,200 a month or a total of P26,400 a year. The amount is P11,400 higher than the current maximum annual subsidy.
“A bigger cash grant means more access to basic necessities like medicine and food as well as an assurance that children won’t have to drop out of school due to lack of resources. We can help uplift the lives of the less fortunate this way,” Nograles said.
He said the bill seeks to institutionalize the 4Ps program, which has served its purpose in alleviating poverty.
The bill provides six conditions for beneficiaries to continue to be entitled to the subsidy.
Children aged zero to five years must receive regular medical checkups and vaccinations while those aged one to 18 must avail themselves of deworming pills at least twice a year. Children aged three to four years must attend day care or pre-school classes.
Pregnant women will be required to get pre- and postnatal care and be attended by a skilled or trained health care professional during childbirth in a health facility. At least one parent must also attend family development and natural family planning sessions once a month to be conducted by the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
A family member should also join and complete at least two government-recognized or accredited non-government organization-sponsored entrepreneurship or livelihood training programs.
“The revised and expanded guidelines are meant to hone beneficiaries in a way that they would in time be able to stand on their own feet,” Nograles said.
He said poor households could remain in the program for a maximum of five years.