The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) today assured Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) beneficiaries in the Municipality of Tinoc, Ifugao that the payout of their cash grants will resume once a thorough investigation on the alleged robbery-holdup incident involving 4Ps funds in Kiangan has been executed and results have been gathered.

The alleged incident happened on Monday, May 21, at Sitio Jolungan, Kiangan. The witnesses of the incident (also the ones who were transporting the payout funds) are personnel of the Lagawe Multi-Purpose Development Cooperative (LMDC), a local conduit of the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP).

Landbank has been the partner of the DSWD in the release of cash grants to its 4.4 million 4Ps beneficiaries. The Department has engaged the services of the bank as its depository and disbursing bank since the start of the implementation of Pantawid in 2008.

The Landbank, on the other hand, has been authorized by the DSWD to identify, negotiate, accredit, and enter separate agreements with qualified conduits for the distribution of the grants to 4Ps beneficiaries.

According to the Field Office in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), the money stolen amounts to P2.7 million, which is supposed to cover the cash grants of some 1,269 Pantawid beneficiaries in Tinoc.

As of today, LBP assured the DSWD that the pay-out will be rescheduled once the Local Government Unit (LGU) of Kiangan and members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) have finished investigating the incident and have cleared the area where the incident took place.

The DSWD, through its Field Office CAR, is continuously coordinating with Landbank, PNP, and the concerned LGU in the investigation of the incident.

The Department apologizes for any inconvenience the incident may have caused the beneficiaries. ###