OFFICIALS of Myanmar and the World Bank (WB) on Thursday, November 15, conducted a study on the implementation of its Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) and Listahanan of the local government of Floridablanca in Pampanga.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development Central Luzon, in a statement to SunStar Pampanga, said Myanmar might pattern their safety net system after the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) of the Philippines or 4Ps.
During the study tour, the DSWD provided the Myanmar and WB representatives with the overview of 4Ps and Listahanan, as well as the challenges, learnings and good practices of the region. One of the good practices presented was the inclusion of Family Development Session (FDS) among the conditions of the program prior to cash transfer.
FDS includes self-awareness, responsible parenting, enabling citizenship, education and empowerment as well as the multi-sectoral approach of the department through its city and municipal inter-agency committee which oversees the gaps and interventions in the community.
Meanwhile, 4Ps is the flagship poverty alleviation program of the Philippines. It has a set of conditions to be fulfilled by the beneficiary household prior to cash transfer. This includes monthly monitoring of health status of children, at least 85 percent attendance to school for school aged children, and attendance of parents to monthly FDS.
Depending on the number of eligible and compliant beneficiaries, each household will then receive a maximum of P2,500 monthly assistance.
Listahanan or the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) on the other hand, is an information management system that identifies who and where the poor are in the country. The system makes available to national government agencies and other social protection stakeholders a database of poor families as reference in identifying potential beneficiaries of social protection programs.
The DSWD noted that 4Ps has long been criticized by some citizens, lawmakers and other government officials who claim that the said program does not help the poor but just promotes dependency to the program.
However, the DSWD Central Luzon added that amidst negative impressions, it has a total of 227,404 households registered in the program and from January to July 2018, 94.88 percent of beneficiaries regularly attend school with 106 new professionals, 96.78 percent are being monitored for health status and 92.57 percent actively participate during FDS.