HOUSE EYES SUPPLEMENTAL BUDGET FOR P9-B.GAP IN 4PS
ALEADER of the House of Representatives on Sunday announced his intention to propose a supplemental budget to tackle the P9billion deficit in the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), resulting from what he claimed was Senator Imee Marcos’ reduction of P13 billion from the program’s 2023 funding.
In a statement, Deputy Speaker and Quezon Representative David Suarez said a supplemental budget can address the 4Ps crisis created by the realignment of P13 billion from the program to other social amelioration endeavors of the government. This, he said, left 843,00 families, or 4 million poor Filipinos, without financial support.
“It is unbearable for us to witness 4 million Filipinos deprived of their mandated assistance under the 4Ps law. We cannot allow their suffering to escalate further, as they endure months or years without the aid they rightfully deserve,” he added.
During last week’s hearing of the House Committees on Public Accounts and Social Services regarding a privilege speech by 4Ps Party-list Representative JC Abalos on the aforementioned realignment, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) confirmed the existence of the P9-billion deficit.
DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian confirmed Senator Marcos’s reallocation of P13 billion in 2023, originally designated for the 4Ps, to programs such as CALAHISIDS, AICS, and quick response to calamities.
Moreover, Suarez expressed bewilderment over the sudden reduction of P13 billion during the Senate’s review of the 2023 national budget, noting, “It’s saddening. Now, I don’t know how to describe a situation where we’re depriving the poor. Typically, it’s the wealthy who are robbed. However, the poor should not be victims of theft. They already have so little...and we’re taking away what little they should receive. I find it intolerable.”
He stressed that the 4Ps program, mandated by Republic Act No. 11310, aims to reduce poverty by providing conditional cash transfers to impoverished households for up to seven years, enhancing their health, nutrition, and education.
Suarez said the objective of Republic Act No. 11310, or the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) Act, is to reduce poverty incidence in the country by providing conditional cash transfers to poor households for a maximum period of seven years, to improve their health, nutrition, and education.