By Connie Calipay/PNA
LEGAZPI CITY — The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) regional office here has announced the delayed release of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) cash grants to its beneficiaries.
DSWD Regional Director Arnel Garcia, in an interview on Wednesday, said the delay in release will cover the months of December 2018 and January 2019.
“The Landbank of the Philippines (LBP) has yet to secure the permission from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to procure conduits during election ban. Conduits are responsible for the conduct of over-the-counter 4Ps pay-out,” Garcia explained.
“The cash grants will be released in June 2019 as announced by LBP,” he added.
The 4Ps cash grants are provided to poor families to help them improve the health, nutrition, and education of their children aged 0-18 years.
Under the health grant, a beneficiary family receives PHP500 per month or a total of PHP6,000 per year. For the educational grant, a beneficiary family whose children are in elementary receives PHP300 every month, per child. Also, a family with high school students receives a monthly grant of PHP500 per child. A maximum of three children is covered in every family under the program.
In addition, an amount of PHP600.00 per month is provided to a beneficiary family as rice subsidy.
These cash grants are distributed to household beneficiaries every two months through LBP cash cards or through alternate payment schemes such as rural bank transactions through the LBP identified conduits.
Garcia emphasized that the delayed release of cash grants affects only those household beneficiaries whose mode of payment is over-the-counter or those being paid through conduits.
He also reminded the 4Ps beneficiaries that they should comply with the program’s conditions including attending the monthly family development session; children beneficiaries should attend or should reach 85 percent attendance in their classes and avail themselves of medical check-up and vaccines in health centers.
“We know these grants are needed by the beneficiaries to augment to their daily living. That is why the department is working hard to ensure that the target household beneficiaries and individuals will receive their grants,” Garcia said.
