THE Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Friday, December 15, announced the lifting of requirements for the beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) in Marawi City until the end of 2018.
Undersecretary Emmanuel Leyco, DSWD officer-in-charge, said around 12,000 beneficiaries of 4Ps in Marawi are now exempted from complying with the requirements for the release of the cash grant.
Among the requirements are: attending family development sessions, going to schools, and availing of medical services.
"Conditionalities for (4Ps) have already been waived for the rest of 2018," Leyco told Palace reporters.
"We have suspended the conditionalities that will allow them to receive, even if they are not attending schools or not going to health clinics, or not even attending the family development sessions," he added.
Leyco said the conditions set by the government for 4Ps beneficiaries in Marawi were initially suspended until March 2018, but the DSWD's recommendation to extend the suspension until December 18 has been approved.
Rehabilitation of war-ravaged Marawi City is still ongoing. A large part of the city was destroyed during the five-month battle between the government troops and the Maute terrorist group that ended on October 23, exactly five months after it broke out.
As of December 11, some 18,478 families or 2,390 individuals have already returned to their homes in Marawi, according to data from Marawi local government unit read by Communications Assistant Secretary Marie Banaag at the same press conference.
Leyco said the DSWD's programs such as social pension and supplementary feeding have been launched, in order to provide assistance to displaced Marawi residents.
"We'd like to assure the people of Marawi that DSWD, along with other government agencies, stand ready to address their needs," he said. (SunStar Philippines)