4Ps beneficiaries to receive payout in May

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has announced it is set to release in May the cash grants for beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) whose mode of payment is through partner conduits. This includes cash grants under Period 6 (January 2018) and the P2,400 per month grants under the Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT), the DSWD said in a statement. “The December 2017 cash grants will not be included in the scheduled payout due to insufficient funds because of increased compliance. Additional funds are now being requested from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM),” the statement said. The UCT program covers all beneficiaries who are active and was able to claim for Period 4 (August to September 2017). A total of 182, 220 beneficiaries under the Regular Conditional Cash Transfer ( RCCT) and Modified Conditional Cash Transfer ( MCCT) without cash cards, will receive the UCT grants on the scheduled payout. Meanwhile, only 176,702 beneficiaries who are compliant with the program’s conditions for January 2018 will receive their grants for the month. The synchronization arrangement for the payout for the regular cash transfer of the 4Ps and 2018 UCT has caused the delayed payment through OTC transactions. DSWD Field Office MIMAROPA said it has already paid 15,382 Pantawid households with cash cards last March 2018 covering Period 6 and UCCT grants. The UCT is a component of the national government’s Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) program that aims to assist indigent Filipinos who will be affected by the rising prices because of the implementation of the new tax reform program. As stipulated in the TRAIN Act, DSWD will implement the UCT scheme for three years. It will release P2,400 in 2018 and a total of P3,600 in 2019 and in 2020. Around P24 billion has been earmarked for the 2018 UCT implementation in the FY 2018 GAA. The statement further said that included in the 10 million UCT beneficiaries are three million indigent senior citizens nationwide who are also beneficiaries of the Social Pension Program (SPP), which is being implemented with the help of the Local Government Units (LGUs) and Special Disbursing Officers (SDOs). The remaining 2.6 million households nationwide will be selected from the Listahanan or National Household Targeting System (NHTSPR) which will go through validation. In MIMAROPA, there are 92,790 target households to be validated.