4Ps Membership
Department of Social Welfare & Development – Requirements & Benefits
Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino ProgramP or 4Ps is a human development program. Under Republic Act No. 11310 or An Act Institutionalizing the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program was signed by President Roa Duterte on April 17, 2019.
What is 4Ps?
Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps is a poverty reduction strategy that provides grants to extremely poor households to improve their health, nutrition, and education particularly of children aged 0-18. The Department of Social Welfare and Development or DSWD is in charge of this program. If is a social protection program that focuses on human capital development. 4Ps has dual objectives Social Assistance and Social Development.
Social Assistance is to provide cash assistance to the poor, to alleviate their needs (short-term poverty alleviation). While Social Development is to break the inter generational cycle of poverty through investments in human capital (nutrition, health, and education).
4Ps is patterned after the successful Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) Programs in Latin America and Africa. CCT has been cited as one of the key factors behind the positive socio-economic outcomes achieved by Brazil where 11 million families are currently enrolled in the program, and other countries.
The poorest households in the country selected through a uniform, objective, and transparent set of criteria.
What are the criteria in the selection of beneficiaries?
There are three steps in identifying the beneficiaries:
- Provinces were selected using the following criteria: a) 20 poorest provinces based on the 2006 Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES); b) Poorest provinces in six regions without a province in the list of the 20 poorest provinces; c) Five cities in the NCR, two in the Visayas, two in Mindanao and one in the Cordillera.
- The selection of the poorest municipalities from the above provinces based on the Small Area Estimates (SAE) and FIES where saturation surveys of households are being conducted.
- Computerized selection of the poorest households based on a ranking system using Proxy Means Test developed for the program.
The PMT Assesses socio-economic characteristics such as:
ownership of assets, type of housing unit, level of educational attainment of household heads, and access to water and sanitation facilities. The DSWD selects the beneficiaries based on the targeting system developed for the program.
Do legislators, local chief executives or barangay officials participate in the selection of beneficiaries?
NO. However, concerned LGUs assist DSWD staff in the conduct of community assemblies which hare part of the program process and procedures.
What does 4Ps offer?
4Ps provides conditional grants to the beneficiaries such as:
- Php 6000 a year or Php 500 per month per household for health and nutrition expenses, and
- P3000 for one school year or 10 months or 300 / month per child for educational expenses. A maximum of three children per household is allowed.
A household with three qualified children can have a subsidy of P1,400 per month or P15,000 annually as long as they comply with the conditions. To avail cash grants, beneficiaries should comply with the following conditions:
- Pregnant women must get pre- and post-natal care and be attended by a skilled/ trained professional during a childbirth.
- Parents or guardians must attend responsible family development sessions.
- Children 0-5 years old must receive regular preventive health checkups and vaccines.
- Children 3-5 years old must attend day care or preschool classes at least 85% of the time.
- Children 6-14 years old must enroll in elementary or high school and attend at least 85% of the time.
- Children 6-14 years old must avail of deworming pills every five months.
What are the Requirements for 4Ps Membership?
- Copies of Birth Certificate for all family members
- Copies of school IDs or first grading period school report cards of all children in the family who attended school
- Barangay Certificate
- 2 copies of 1×1 picture with white background (taken between March-September 2012) for the Program ID and Land Bank ATM ID
- Copy of health records of 0-5 years old from the health center where they have their check-ups
- Valid IDs of the family member attending the community assembly.
You may still contact your DSWD office for further details about updated requirements.
How do the beneficiaries get their money?
The quarterly cash grants shall be received by the most responsible person in the household through a Landbank cash card.
In cases where payment through cash card is not feasible, the beneficiaries shall be provided their cash grants through an alternative payment scheme such as over the counter transactions from the nearest Landbank branch or offsite payments through an authorized rural bank.
Non-compliance to the conditions will result in the suspension of cash grants or dropping from the program.
Isn’t this a form of dole-out considering that cash is directly given?
- It is a development program that invests in human capital. The beneficiaries must meet specific conditions before they can get the cash assistance. 4Ps enhances the role of parents and helps them accomplish their duties and responsibilities to their children. It encourages them to invest in the future, their own, and those of their children.
How long will the beneficiaries receive the cash grants?
Each household beneficiary will receive the cash grants for at most five years.
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