As part of the commitment of Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Erwin T. Tulfo to update and clean the list of the beneficiaries of the Department’s big ticket programs, the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program-National Program Management Office (4Ps-NPMO) is currently strengthening further its data management efforts to ensure that all ‘unqualified’ and ‘ineligible’ beneficiaries will be removed from the program.

In an earlier statement, Secretary Tulfo provided direction to the 4Ps-NPMO to cleanse its list of program beneficiaries by identifying the 4Ps families with children who have finished their studies and have no monitored eligible children, whom he emphasized are already considered ineligible to become program beneficiaries.

Based on the existing program guidelines, those who have graduated or exited from the Program and were assessed as self-sufficient are being removed from the roster of active members and they should no longer receive any cash grants.

Likewise, Secretary Tulfo instructed the 4Ps-NPMO to check on the behavior and compliance of the beneficiaries to the program conditions.

Following the current implementation of the program, the list of beneficiaries is regularly updated in the Beneficiary Data and Management System to reflect active beneficiaries who are entitled to receive cash grants, subject to the monitoring and evaluation of their compliance with the conditions provided by the 4Ps Act.

The Department stressed that the delisting of unqualified and ineligible beneficiaries is being done through a Grievance Redress System with mechanisms from the national, regional to the municipal levels nationwide to ensure that only eligible and qualified beneficiaries will be provided with grants from the government.

Meanwhile, the DSWD stated that changes in the list of beneficiaries shall be implemented as the Listahanan 3 nearly concludes its final phase. As of press time, Listahanan 3 has already assessed more than 1 million beneficiaries as non-poor, which will be processed for their immediate graduation from the program.

Moreover, during the conduct of the Listahanan 3, some 4Ps beneficiaries were not assessed due to their change in residence while others did not agree to be interviewed. Likewise, some beneficiaries’ economic backgrounds should still undergo a proxy means test (PMT) to determine if they are considered poor or not. The PMT is used to estimate household welfare level based on their income indicators such as materials in housing structure, household’s access to basic services and facilities like water and electricity, and ownership of specific assets, among others.

The Department assured the public that it has established systems and policies to ensure smooth implementation of the program, including the 4Ps Kilos-Unlad Social Case Management Strategy which is considered a critical intervention with the beneficiaries in improving their well-being before they exit from the Program.

With the profound commitment of Secretary Tulfo in this endeavor, the Department looks forward to the continuous improvements of the program policies and systems to ensure that deserving beneficiaries will be accorded conditional cash transfers to improve their overall health, nutrition, and education. ###