Over 400,000 eligible households waiting for inclusion in 4Ps

MANILA, Philippines — Over 400,000 waitlisted households have been validated by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to be eligible for the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps.

These eligible households, however, can only be included once there are available spots vacated by beneficiaries who will exit from the program.

Gemma Gabuya, 4Ps national program manager, said these households would replace beneficiaries who will graduate from the program through the Pugay Tagumpay ceremony.

In July, DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian ordered the reassessment of 4Ps beneficiaries who were classified as “non-poor”in the Listahanan 3.

Gabuya said the reassessment resulted in the reinstatement of more than 700,000 beneficiaries after the DSWD found out that they remained poor and not ready to graduate from the program.

The exit of households from the program is provided under Republic Act 11310, or the 4Ps Law.

Under the law, a qualified household-beneficiary should exit from the program when the last monitored child in the family turns 19 years old.

The DSWD is currently facilitating the graduation of households that no longer have eligible children or those enrolled in elementary and high school.

Gabuya said the agency is currently assessing more than one million households that are potential 4Ps beneficiaries.