THE Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)-Central Visayas has delisted “persistent non-compliant” Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) beneficiaries.
As of July 2022, the program already delisted 10 households whose monitored children are not attending school or have not shown any commitment to returning back to school and the grantee did not attend the monthly Family Development Session (FDS).
For 2022, the program also monitored a total of 767 households that are not compliant to the program conditions and are subject to case management and further evaluations.
Based on Section 12 of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) Act, or Republic Act (RA) 11310, “should the qualified household-beneficiary so notified persists in not complying with the conditions within a period of one year since the day of receipt of the written notification, the household-beneficiary shall be removed from the program.”
“Those non-compliant beneficiaries will be case managed by our case worker and will take appropriate steps to resolve those issues on why they cannot comply with the conditions set by the program,” said DSWD-Central Visayas officer-in-charge Director Shalaine Marie Lucero.
Through the case management process, the beneficiaries will undergo a transformative process, as they will be guided with new information and ways to evaluate past ideas, beliefs, and understandings through critical reflection that will lead to a change of perception.
The case management process outcome would subsequently keep them on track and allow them to remain in the program after the appropriate case management intervention.
“Our 4Ps beneficiaries must value the program membership and understand the conditions to be complied with, including health and education. Their difficulty in compliance can be resolved by addressing the root cause of the problem,” said Lucero.
"We have cases of 20 households who were retained in the program after one year of the evaluation period and intensive case management that showed improved compliance in all program conditionalities, like their children, are already attending school and the grantee is attending the monthly FDS," she added.
Meanwhile, the DSWD-Central Visayas welcomed the request of the Central Visayas Regional Development Council (RDC) to seek remedial legislation or executive measures providing penalties for individuals and corporate entities who accept 4Ps cash cards as loan collateral.
The request to the National Advisory Committee through the 4Ps Oversight Committee was made through a resolution passed by the RDC during its second quarter full council meeting on June 23, 2022.
“Adequate sanctions are in place for certain 4Ps households that abused their 4Ps cash cards. However, there are still no laws or policies that provide sanctions to individuals or organizations that accept cash cards as loan collateral,” said Lucero.
The proposal to impose penalties on individuals and corporate entities was initiated during the second quarter of the RDC’s Social Development Committee (SDC) meeting, which was headed by the DSWD.
RA 11310 became a law in April 2019. It is the government’s major poverty alleviation program that invests in the health, nutrition, and education of poor eligible households. These, along with the psychosocial and educational components provided through the Family Development Session (FDS), lead the beneficiaries to have improved and sustained well-being.
The beneficiaries who complied with the program conditions during a particular period will receive their full grants. These conditions include sending and keeping school-aged children in school; pre- and post-natal care of mothers; regular and preventive check-ups of children aged five and below; deworming of children aged six to 14; and attendance at the monthly FDS.
Based on the law, households may receive P750 for compliance with health and FDS; children monitored by the program in elementary will receive P300; those in junior high will receive P500; and P700 for children in senior high school.
The education grants benefit a maximum of three children in a household and cover only 10 months per school year. (PR)