The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has reiterated on Thursday (October 26) that its Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) cannot be, in any way, used for electioneering or any partisan political activities.
“Sa atin pong mga kababayan, kahit sino pong mangako sa inyo na kayo’y mapapasama sa 4Ps program, malamang hindi ho magkatotoo ‘yan. Hindi ho magkatotoo ‘yan…DSWD data lang po ang tatanungin, DSWD personnel din lang po ang makakapag-assess po sa inyo – hindi po kahit sinong kandidato,” Assistant Secretary Romel Lopez said during the pilot episode of the DSWD Media Forum on Thursday (October 26) at the DSWD New Press Center.
(To our kababayans, whoever promises to you that you will be included in the 4Ps program, it will not come true…only DSWD data will be used, only DSWD personnel can assess you – not just any candidate.)
According to 4Ps National Program Management Office (NPMO) Director Gemma Gabuya, the program only utilizes the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) or Listahanan to identify the profile of poor beneficiaries.
Director Gabuya, however, stressed that the inclusion to the Listahanan does not guarantee any provision of cash aid or automatic inclusion to the 4Ps since it is only a database that can be used to determine who and where the poor are.
Exiting 4Ps households
Following the memorandum of Secretary Rex Gatchalian on July 19 to defer the exit of 4Ps beneficiaries who were tagged as non-poor, the 4Ps NPMO conducted a reassessment of 1,158, 249 non-poor 4Ps households using the Social Welfare and Development Indicators (SWDI) from July to September.
Based on the result of the reassessment, Director Gabuya said about 761,150 households are not yet capable to exit the program, while 339,660 beneficiaries were already under the self-sufficiency level.
“Isa sa main factors is the COVID kasi maraming nawalan ng trabaho. Alam naman natin na ang mga 4Ps, ang mga trabaho nila hindi naman talaga matataas yung kanilang mga income,” Dir. Gabuya explained.
(One of the main factors is the COVID because many lost their jobs. We know that 4Ps members, do not have huge income.)
The 4Ps is a human capital development program that aims to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty among poor households by investing in the health, nutrition, and education of poor households.
In 2019, the program was institutionalized as a regular program of the DSWD and a national poverty reduction strategy of the national government through Republic Act 11310 or the 4Ps Law.
Under the law, the program beneficiaries will now only be covered for a maximum of seven years. and will be closely monitored using the social case management process. #
