DSWD-7 to enroll more households under 4Ps

CEBU, Philippines —  Over 41,000 households will be added by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Central Visayas as new beneficiaries of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).

Most of the 41,091 new target household beneficiaries in the region would come from Cebu Province (34,107); Bohol was allotted with 6,956 new households; Negros Oriental, 27; and one from Siquijor.

The new target beneficiaries will be added to the existing 282,667 household beneficiaries in the region.

DSWD-7 regional director Rebecca Geamala encouraged the public to validate the master list to ensure that only eligible households would be accepted into the program.

She said that the validation process can be done either through a community assembly or a house-to-house visit by the DSWD-7 personnel.

The validation and registration of the new eligible beneficiaries are now ongoing in the different cities and towns in Central Visayas. Copies of the master list of potential 4Ps beneficiaries will be posted in conspicuous spaces in barangay, city, and municipal halls.

“Furthermore, these potential 4Ps households are required to submit the marriage certificate, birth certificate, school enrollment certificate, health enrollment certificate, valid identification card (ID), or other alternate documents as part of the supporting documents during the registration,” said Geamala.

Geamala said the new beneficiaries are encouraged to approach the assigned 4Ps City and Municipal Links (C/MLs) for the registration schedule.

During validation and registration, applicants are expected to follow minimum health standards like wearing of face mask, hand sanitizing, and physical distancing.

DSWD-7 continues to reach more poor households by replacing those who have exited and will exit from the program. The 4Ps National Advisory Council (NAC) passed Resolution No. 43, institutionalizing replacement policy of 4Ps households by those not covered by the program. 

The list of potential 4Ps beneficiaries comes from the Listahanan database of the 2015 household assessment.

Aside from being identified as poor from Listahanan, a 4Ps household must have children aged 0-18 or a pregnant member at the time of the household assessment and must be willing and able to comply with the conditionalities of the program as part of their co-responsibilities.

The 4Ps is a national government program that invests in the human capital of poor households. Implemented through DSWD, it was institutionalized in 2019 by virtue of Republic Act 11310.

It has become the national poverty reduction strategy of the government that provides cash grants to improve the health, nutrition, and education aspects of the poor.

The program also provides psychosocial and psycho-educational components through the Family Development Session (FDS), leading the beneficiaries to an improved and sustained well-being

The households are given cash grants in exchange for their compliance with the program’s conditionalities.

These include school attendance of at least 85% per month for children enrolled in pre-school, elementary, or high school; children aged 5 and below to undergo preventive check-up as mandated by DOH; children enrolled in elementary to receive deworming pills twice within the school year; pregnant women must receive pre-natal and post-natal care, based on DOH protocol; and parent/s or guardians to attend monthly Family Development Sessions. — FPL (FREEMAN)