THE Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) 7 is targeting to add a total of 41,091 new beneficiaries under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) in Central Visayas.
“We encourage the public to validate the master list to ensure that only eligible households become part of the program. The validation process can be done through either a community assembly or a house-to-house visit of our Pantawid staff,” DSWD 7 Director Rebecca Geamala said.
The validation and registration are ongoing in the different cities and towns in the region, where copies of the master list of potential 4Ps beneficiaries are posted in conspicuous spaces like barangay, city and municipal halls, the DSWD 7 said.
“These potential 4Ps households are required to submit the marriage certificate, birth certificate, school enrollment certificate, health enrollment certificate, valid identification card or other alternate documents as part of the supporting documents during the registration,” Geamala said in a press release.
Cebu province has the highest number of new beneficiaries with 34,107, followed by Bohol with 6,956 and Negros Oriental with 27.
Currently, there are 282,667 4Ps households Central Visayas.
Meanwhile, Covid-19 vaccination is not mandatory for the 4Ps beneficiaries, the department clarified.
Aside from being identified as poor from the Listahanan, a 4Ps household must have children aged zero to 18 or a pregnant member at the time of the household assessment and must be willing and able to comply with the conditions of the program as part of their co-responsibilities.
4Ps is a national government program that invests in the human capital of poor households. Implemented through the 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 their lives. The program also provides psychosocial and psycho-educational components through the Family Development Session, 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 conditions.
These include school attendance of at least 85 percent per month for children enrolled in pre-school, elementary or high school; children aged five and below are to undergo preventive checkup as mandated by the Department of Health (DOH); children enrolled in elementary are 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 are to attend monthly Family Development Sessions.