VP Leni urges early bicam to institutionalize conditional cash program

Vice President Leni Robredo is hopeful that the two chambers of Congress will convene soon the bicameral conference committee on the institutionalization of the government’s conditional cash transfer program.

The Senate and House of Representative have two different versions of the bill that seeks to institutionalize the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps.

Lawmakers approved House Bill No. 7773 on third and final reading in August 2018 while senators passed Senate Bill 2117, authored by detained Senator Leila de Lima, last week.

“Ang ating panaginip, mag-bicam na para naipasa na iyong batas na ini-institutionalize iyong 4Ps (Our dream is the bicameral conference will be convened so the law that institutionalizes the 4Ps will be passed),” Robredo said in her message at the second anniversary celebration of Samahan ng Nagkakaisang Pamilya ng Pantawid (SNPP) held in Quezon City.

The Vice President has been pushing for the 4Ps to be institutionalized and make it into law to ensure the beneficiaries will continue to get assistance from this program.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) implements the 4Ps program. This provides conditional cash grants to the poor to improve their health, nutrition, and the education of children aged 0-18.

If the bill is signed into law, Robredo said the bill will no longer be politicized.

“Hindi na siya maaapektuhan ng pulitika na sino man iyong nakaupo, hindi puwedeng baguhin iyong usapan ng 4Ps. Puwedeng dagdagan pero hindi puwedeng mabasag (This will no longer be affected by politics and whoever is the sitting president, the 4Ps can’t be replaced. It can be expanded but it can’t be scrapped),” she said.

The Vice President spoke to 1,000 officers and members of SNPP from Manila, Calabarzon, Central Luzon, Bicol, and Eastern Visayas at the event.

The group was formed to safeguard the gains of the program, ensure the graduation to K-12 of 10 million students, and monitor the implementation of 4Ps, among others.

Robredo wants an expansion of the program to provide conditional cash transfers to more poor Filipinos.