By Ercel Maandig/PNA
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — The Department of Social Welfare and Development Field Office 10 (DSWD-10) here will relaunch a campaign starting this month that aims to protect the government’s conditional cash transfer program from being used by national and local candidates for political gain.
Aldersey Mumar dela Cruz, DSWD-10 acting director, reminded Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) beneficiaries on Monday that no politician or any group has the right to delist them from the program.
“No one has the right to delist a beneficiary from the Pantawid Program — only DSWD national and regional offices have the right to do so,” dela Cruz said.
Dela Cruz said the “Bawal Ang Epal Dito (Epal is not allowed here) Campaign” aims to protect the integrity of the Pantawid program and its beneficiaries, including the various programs and services of the department.
“Epal” is a colloquial Filipino term for someone who wants to grab public attention, often through credit-grabbing and by putting their names or faces in every project even if it is not theirs.
Dela Cruz said the campaign is in line with the directive of DSWD Sec. Rolando Joselito Bautista Jr. that DSWD workers should remain neutral and refrain from endorsing any political candidates and political groups.
Bautista also ordered the conduct of payouts and other DSWD activities in neutral grounds and venues to avoid political campaigning during the DSWD activities.
The 4Ps beneficiaries are only removed from the program if they fail to comply with the health and education conditionalities as well as the monthly family development sessions.
The “Bawal Ang Epal Dito” was first launched during the stint of former Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman to prevent politicians from influencing votes from the beneficiaries.
Kenneth Haze Sanchez, DSWD-10 regional project coordinator of 4Ps, said the relaunching emphasizes that the 4Ps beneficiaries have the right to choose their leaders freely without being threatened or intimidated.
The 4Ps is a social protection strategy that invests in the health and education of poor children aged 0 to 14. As of January 28, there are 258,461 beneficiaries in Northern Mindanao.
Of this number, 239,708 are under the regular conditional cash transfer while 18,753 are from the modified conditional cash transfer.
