The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is heeding the call of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. in his 4th State of the Nation Address (SONA) to amend some provisions of Republic Act No. 11310, the law which institutionalized the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).
In pushing for the amendments on the 4Ps Law, DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian emphasized that the basis of the beneficiaries’ exit from the program should be based on the status of their living condition and not solely on the prescribed seven-year maximum period set by the law.
“Sa ating Pangulo, yung kanyang mungkahi o yung kanyang statement na amyendahan ang batas, ay kinikilala ang bawat pamilya ng 4Ps na may sariling kwento. Hindi mo pwedeng [ilagum] mo silang lahat na, ok seven years, alis na kayo, hindi ho ganun ang ating Pangulo. Ang ating Pangulo malaki ang puso para sa ating mga kababayan, lalong lalo na sa ating mga kababayan na mahihirap,” Secretary Gatchalian explained during the Post-SONA Discussions Session 3: Health and Social Welfare Protection, which was organized by the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) on Tuesday (July 29) in the City of San Juan.
Secretary Gatchalian said factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the spikes in prices of commodities brought by inflation have greatly eroded the purchasing power of 4Ps beneficiaries and their capability to adapt with economic shocks.
“Dahil sa mga nangyari tulad ng COVID-19 at ng inflation, talagang umatras ng umatras ang iba nating mahihirap na kababayan. Kung dati rati dapat naka-graduate na sila [mga 4Ps members], ngayon hindi pa sila pwedeng gumradweyt kasi kulang pa yung panahon na talagang maiahon yung kanilang mga sarili sa kahirapan,” Secretary Gatchalian pointed out.
The DSWD chief reiterated that the seven-year limit should not be a basis for the beneficiaries to exit from the program and the 4Ps National Program Management Office (NPMO) needs to closely monitor the plight and actual status of the household-members.
“Hindi naman natin ine-extend yung programa. Ang sinasabi lang natin, yung programa nandyan na iyan, may batas iyan. Huwag lang natin gawin batayan yung seven year sa pagpapaalis sa programa. Kailangan tingnan natin yung estado ng pamilya [kung] kaya na ba nila tumayo sa sarili nilang mga paa, yung mga anak ba nila ay nakatapos na,” Secretary Gatchalian explained.
The 4Ps is the national poverty reduction strategy and human capital investment program that provides conditional cash transfer to improve the health, nutrition, and the education of children aged 0-18.
More than 4.4 million households continue to benefit from the program. (AKDL)