4Ps IRR signed
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) led Tuesday the signing of the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 11310, institutionalizing the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program as a national poverty reduction strategy.
RA 11310 (Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) Act) allows the establishment of programs that invest and harness the country’s human capital and improvement of delivery of basic services to the poor, particularly education, health, and nutrition to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty.
Farmers, fisherfolk, homeless families, indigenous peoples, informal sector, and those without electricity are automatically included in the standardized targeting system to be used by DSWD, provided they meet the criteria to be eligible for cash grants.
The list of household-beneficiaries will undergo validation every three years. The program will be also assessed every three years by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies for its impact and effectiveness.
Under the IRR, beneficiaries will be receiving more cash grants, such as R300 a month per child enrolled in day care and elementary programs,
R500 a month per child enrolled in junior high school, and R700 a month per child enrolled in senior high school. This will be given for a maximum of 10 months per year. Health and nutrition grant of R750 a month (from the previous
R500) will also be given to each household-beneficiary for a maximum of 12 months per year.
Additional benefits include a monthly R600 rice subsidy and a monthly R300 unconditional cash transfer.
Likewise, all beneficiaries of 4Ps must be automatically included in the National Health Insurance Program (NHIP), whose funding will come from the Sin Tax Law.
Under the new law, household beneficiaries will be given priority in availing interventions under the Sustainable Livelihood Program of the DSWD or other similar programs offered by other government agencies or private institutions.
Each beneficiary may receive benefits up to seven years but the National Advisory Council (NAC), chaired by DSWD, may recommend longer period.
The NAC will be co-chaired by the Department of Health (DOH) and Department of Education (DepEd). Other members of the council are Department of Agriculture, Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Agrarian Reform, Department of Science and Technology, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.
Prior to its institutionalization, only DSWD, DepEd, DOH, and DOLE were directly involved in the program.
The regional advisory councils and NAC will also have, as additional members, two representatives from accredited non-governmental organizations working or monitoring social welfare service programs.
“The answer to reducing poverty is within reach. We thank all agencies of government, NGOs (non-government organizations), stakeholders, and partners for helping us achieve the emancipation of our less fortunate brothers and sisters from the clutches of poverty. Yes, the Philippines can overcome poverty,” DSWD Secretary Rolando Bautista said.
As of September 2019, DSWD said 4Ps has a total of 4,126,318 household-beneficiaries nationwide. About 8.3 million children enrolled in school are covered by 4Ps.
In Senator Leila de Lima’s message read by chief of staff, lawyer Fhilip Sawali, budget allocation for the program increased from R89 billion in 2019 to R108.7 billion in 2020.
“Since its inception in 2008, its continued expansion in 2011, now, its institutionalization comes with necessary reforms in the implementation of the program,” Sawali said.
“We broaden the sectors covered by the program, designed a more responsive cash grant scheme, put in place a streamlined and clear system of interagency coordination, and promote transparency, accountability, and citizen participation in the program, among others,” he added.