(File Photo)
QUEZON CITY, (PIA) – The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) increased the budget provision for the continuous implementation of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) under the human development initiatives of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
From the previous allocation of P102.61 billion in the approved 2023 budget appropriations, the 2024 National Expenditure Program (NEP) has set out a total of P112.8 billion budget allotment for the 4.4 million eligible beneficiaries of 4Ps.
“The rise is due to the increased number of students, moving from 1.493 million senior high school (SHS) students in FY 2023 to an anticipated 1.628 million SHS students in FY 2024, who will be provided with an educational allowance,” Budget Secretary Pangandaman explained.
The P103.161 billion of the proposed allocation will fund the distribution of conditional cash grants including the P750 monthly stipend for the health subsidies of targeted households, P600 for rice allowance, and P300 to P700 for the educational assistance of more than 7 million students.
The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps aims to improve the health, nutrition, and education of children aged 0 to 18 years old who are living below the poverty threshold.
The DSWD utilizes the Listahanan or the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) to strategically identify the potential beneficiaries of 4Ps by gaining access to socio-economic information of poor families.
Through the implementation of an objective targeting system, the inclusion of non-poor families and the exclusion of the underprivileged in social protection services are significantly reduced.
In 2019, Republic Act 11315 provided for the adoption of a Community-Based Monitoring System (CMBS) to ensure comprehensive data collection in terms of identifying the beneficiaries of poverty alleviation and development interventions.
It can be recalled that President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has approved the recommendation of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) to institutionalize the existing social protection programs such as the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) through the Social Protection Floor (SPF) framework.
This forms part of the national government’s thrust to facilitate the economic and social transformation of the most vulnerable populations in the country. (DBM/PIA-NCR)
