By Azer Parrocha/Philippine News Agency
MANILA — President Rodrigo Duterte has signed into law an act institutionalizing the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
Duterte signed Republic Act No. 11310 or the 4Ps Act on April 17, a copy of which was released to media on Wednesday (May 22).
He signed the law recognizing the duty of the state to “promote a just and dynamic social order thereby uplifting its citizens and marginalized sectors from poverty through policies that provide adequate social services, promote full employment, a rising standard of living, and an improved quality of life for all”.
The 4Ps is the national poverty reduction strategy and human capital investment program that provides conditional cash transfer to poor households for a maximum period of seven years to improve the health, nutrition and education aspect of their lives.
However, the National Advisory Council (NAC) may recommend a longer period under exceptional circumstances.
Eligible beneficiaries of the 4Ps include farmers, fisher folks, homeless families, indigenous peoples, those in the informal settler sector and those in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas including those in areas without electricity.
All beneficiaries of 4Ps as identified by the standardized targeting system to be qualified household-beneficiaries of the 4Ps shall automatically be covered in the National Health Insurance Program (NHIP).
Within six months from the effectivity of the new law, the DSWD Secretary shall, in coordination with appropriate government departments and agencies with the participation of local government units, promulgate the necessary rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of this act.
This Act was passed by the Senate of the Philippines as Senate Bill No. 2117 on Feb. 4, 2019 and adopted by the House of Representatives as an amendment to House Bill No. 7773 on Feb. 7, 2019.
It shall take effect 15 days following its publication in the Official Gazette or in two newspapers of general circulation in the Philippines.
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