DSWD Set To Add More 4Ps Beneficiaries By September

An official of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) announced on Thursday (February 1) that the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) is set to accommodate new beneficiaries by September of this year.

“By September, mayroong mga around 200,000 na wala ng eligible children na automatic na mag-eexit sa program,” Director Gemma Gabuya, head of the 4Ps National Program Management Office (NPMO), told reporters at DSWD Media Forum held at the New Press Center.

(By September, there are around 200,000 household-beneficiaries with non-eligible children who will automatically exit from the program.)

Director Gabuya said the exit of the households is in line with the provision of Republic Act No. 11310 or the 4Ps Law which states that “a qualified household-beneficiary shall be deemed to exit from the program, when the last monitored child in the household turns 19-years-old.”

The 4Ps national program director further explained that the schedule of exit in September coincides with the end of the school year to ensure that the monitored children will be able to finish their current grade level.

“To ensure that the exiting households will not slide back to poverty, the DSWD is working with other government agencies and local government units to provide livelihood opportunities and other interventions that will help meet the needs of the families,” Director Gabuya pointed out.

The DSWD official added: “The new program beneficiaries will be extracted from the current list of waitlisted beneficiaries assessed by the Listahanan 3 or the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR).”

The 4Ps is the national poverty reduction strategy and a human capital investment program of the Philippine government that provides conditional cash transfer to improve the health, nutrition, and the education of children aged 0-18.