The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or more commonly known as 4Ps was an initiative of the Pnoy administration. It was created to help alleviate the lives of the poorest citizens of the country. This program aims to give cash grants to the poorest people in the Philippines and help in improving nutrition, health, and education of their children up to eighteen years of age. It’s a program patterned after the CCT (Conditional Cash Transfer) schemes in African and Latin American countries. The DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development) is the government agency tasked to handle this program.
Objectives of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program
- To give monetary assistance to the poorest of the poor families to help them in their basic needs
- To give social assistance
- To help them in health-related concerns such as deworming of children (6-14 yrs. old), and check-up for children starting from birth up to five years of age & pregnant women
- Ensure that the children will enroll in daycare, elementary, and secondary schools.
- Development sessions for families
- Deworming of children from 6-14 yrs. old
Criteria
- Must be a resident in one of the poorest municipalities (based on the 2003 SAE (Small Area Estimate) of the National Statistical Coordination
- Household economic status must not be above the provincial poverty level
- Those that have 0-18 yrs. old children and/or with a pregnant member of the family when the assessment was made.
- Those who are willing to meet the condition that is specified in the 4Ps program
Conditions and Compliance
- Parents/guardians must be present during family development sessions where topics on health, nutrition, and responsible parenting will be discussed.
- Children from 6-14 years old must be given deworming pills 2x per year.
- Pregnant women must be given pre and postnatal care. She must be attended by a skilled professional while giving birth.
- Children aged 3 to 18 who are beneficiaries must be able to enroll in school and should complete attendance of 85% at the least per month.
- There should be a regular check-up for children; 0-5 years of age.
Requirements for Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program
It is partly due to the requirements set by the Program. In the barangays, eligible families are asked to submit the following registration requirements.
- Copies of birth certificates for all family members.
- Copies of school IDs or first grading period school report cards of all children in the family who attended school.
- Barangay certificate.
- 2 1″x1″ picture with white background (taken between March-September 2012) for the Program ID and Land Bank ATM ID.
- Copy of health records of 0-5 years old from the health center where they have their check-ups.
- Valid IDs of the family member attending the community assembly.
There was a high compliance rate in April and May 2015. 99.91% of children from 6-14 yrs. old were dewormed. There was a 98.99% attendance in school for children 6-14 yrs. old, 98.33% in daycare, and 97.05% for children 15-18 yrs. old. There was a 95.95% compliance for the check-up of pregnant women and 94.84% compliance in family development sessions.
Cash Grants
- Educational grant of Php300/child/month for 10 months or Php3,000/year – a maximum of 3 children/household are allowed to register
- Health grant of Php500/household/month pr Php6,000/year
See also: How to Qualify for Philhealth Sponsored Member
4Ps Coverage
The 4Ps covers 1,484 municipalities, 143 cities, and 79 provinces. The National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction is the one responsible in identifying who are the poor in the country and where they are located.
There are around 4,353,597 active beneficiaries as of August 26, 2015. There are 10,235,658 school children up to eighteen years of age that are covered in this program. The cash grants are given to these households through the Landbank of the Philippines, rural bank transactions, and Globe G-Cash remittance.
There were around Php27.15B cash grants that had been given to eligible beneficiaries until August 2015 and Php13.92B of which was given out for health grants while Php13.23B was disbursed for education.
Government Partners
This program, in partnership with the Department of Labor and Employment, Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges, and Commission on Higher Education, has enrolled 36K beneficiaries in state colleges and universities as of June 2015. There are around 4.4M beneficiaries in 4Ps partnership with PhilHealth. The amount given to each household may not be enough to live decently but for the poorest families, it is already a big help in going about their daily needs. For more information, visit the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program on the website of the DSWD.