DSWD suspends conditions for Marawi 4Ps beneficiaries

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has suspended the conditionalities for beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) to accommodate the needs of the Marawi City’s internally displaced persons (IDPs).

This, after the DSWD announced the opening of its Marawi operations center in Barangay Tampilong inside the wartorn Lanao del Sur city last week.

DSWD officer-in-charge (OIC) Undersecretary Emmanuel Leyco said that the agency has not been requiring 4Ps beneficiaries to comply with the program’s conditions since November.

“We have suspended the conditionalities that will allow them to receive even if they are not attending schools or not going to health clinics, or not even attending the family development sessions,” Leyco said during the Task Force Bangon Marawi press briefing in Malacañang Friday.

“We’d like to make sure that the funds are delivered to them,” he added, citing some 12,000 households who are members of the 4Ps.

Leyco said that the agency had actually suspended the conditionalities until March 2018, but is now looking into extending the deadline.

“Initially we have suspended it until March of 2018. And we can possibly extend it longer, as long as it is needed,” he said.

“But for now, we’d like to make sure that the help, the assistance is delivered to the 4Ps beneficiaries,” he added.

Originally, 4Ps beneficiaries have to meet five conditions to stay in the program.

These include: Pregnant women must avail of pre- and post-natal care, and be attended to during childbirth by a trained professional; parents or guardians must attend the family development sessions where topics on responsible parenting, health, and nutrition are discussed; children until the age of five must receive regular preventive health check-ups and vaccines; children aged 6-14 must receive deworming pills twice a year; and children-beneficiaries aged 3-18 must enroll in school, and maintain an attendance of at least 85 percent of class days every month.

Leyco earlier said that the DSWD was looking into including IDPs who are not members of the 4Ps, as well as identifying programs of the DSWD that could apply to families affected by the five-month war.

“The DSWD is ready to help those in need,” Leyco earlier said, adding that programs like the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) and Cash for Work (CFW) Program will be extended to Marawi’s IDPs.

The said programs aim to help the indigent and vulnerable sectors of society. Leyco said these programs could help the IDPs rebuild their community while staying in their transitional shelters.

The SLP aims to increase economic opportunities by providing skills training, seed capital fund, pre-employment assistance fund, and cash for building livelihood assets. The CFW, on the other hand, is a short-term intervention that provides temporary employment to distressed or displaced individuals.