By Brian Campued
As part of the government’s continued interventions to help poor and vulnerable Filipinos amid various economic shocks, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has extended the benefits under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) for qualified beneficiaries beyond the maximum seven-year period.
This, as the National Advisory Council (NAC) recommended to the President the extension of the program benefits for 4Ps beneficiaries, recognizing that the COVID-19 pandemic severely disrupted household incomes, reversed developmental gains, and limited the ability of vulnerable families to achieve self-sufficiency within the required period.
“There is a need to ensure that 4Ps beneficiaries affected by exceptional circumstances continue to receive adequate support under the program until they achieve the level of self-sufficiency as contemplated by RA No. 11310 (4Ps Act),” President Marcos Jr. said in his Executive Order (EO) No. 120 signed on July 13.
Under the EO, qualified beneficiaries whose eligibility would cease after completing seven years may continue to receive program benefits, provided that they remain classified by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) as Level 1 (Survival) or Level 2 (Subsistence) under the Social Welfare and Development Indicator (SWDI) tool.
The DSWD is likewise tasked to strengthen its case management system using the enhanced SWDI tool or such other appropriate assessment mechanisms to determine the well-being and readiness of 4Ps beneficiaries for graduation from the program.
President Marcos Jr. also directed the agency to formulate and issue within 30 days the implementing guidelines for EO 120, covering the identification and validation of qualified 4Ps beneficiaries, periodic assessments using the SWDI tool, strengthened case management interventions, and the determination of beneficiaries’ continued eligibility.
The 4Ps is a national poverty reduction strategy and human capital investment program that provides conditional cash transfer aimed at improving health, nutrition, and education of poor households.
-jpv
