DAVAO CITY (PIA) – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) XI reiterated that the additional cash grant provided under the First 1,000 Days (F1KD) of Life is aimed at instilling health-seeking behaviors among Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) beneficiaries.
“The F1KD strategy is dako kaayu ni nga opportunity para mas ma-instill sa atoang mga active 4Ps household ang health-seeking behavior or ang importansya nga matudloan sila nga mo-adtu sa health center. Modangop sa atoang mga medical practitioners,” DSWD XI 4Ps division chief Margie Cabido-Sobretodo said during the Kapehan sa Dabaw on February 3.
(The F1KD strategy is a great opportunity to further instill health-seeking behavior in our active 4Ps households or teach them to go to health centers and seek help from our medical practitioners.)
Cabido-Sobretodo explained that F1KD is part of the health component of 4Ps, specifically targeting existing 4Ps pregnant beneficiaries and 4P households with children under two years old to support the health and nutritional development of the children.
Under F1KD, each eligible beneficiary receives a conditional cash grant of P350.00. This is in addition to the regular monthly subsidy provided to all 4Ps beneficiaries, she added.
Since the assistance is for the health and nutrition of children, Cabido-Sobretodo emphasized that they outline the responsibilities that all beneficiaries must adhere to.
For pregnant women, the responsibilities include attending regular prenatal and postnatal checkups, giving birth in a licensed maternity clinic or hospital, and ensuring that infants receive all required vaccinations until they turn two years old.
For households with children 0 to two years old, these include regular visits to health centers for vaccination and deworming.
To ensure that the assistance is used for its intended purpose, Cabido-Sobretodo said that beneficiaries will be monitored through their field workers or during family development sessions.
“Naa tay regular nga monitoring. Kung monthly ang ilahang grants na releasing, monthly pod ang atoang monitoring (We have regular monitoring. If the grants are released monthly, our monitoring is also done monthly). And this is course through one of the platforms that we have in pantawid is that family development session aside from the regular case management activities of our field workers,” she shared.
She added that they are closely coordinating with the Department of Health through barangay health workers in health centers and rural health units to assist in monitoring the beneficiaries.
Meanwhile, Cabido-Sobretodo said that they are also conducting massive validation and updating of beneficiaries to ensure that only eligible beneficiaries will receive the cash grant.
“Continuous pod ang pag-update kung buntis ba gyud sila or basin nanganak na sila, kung naa ba gyud sila’y 0 to 2 years na anak or basin ang bata nag age out na,” she explained
(Our updating is continuous to check whether they are really pregnant or have already given birth, whether they really have a child aged 0 to 2, or their child has aged out.)
As part of their updating mechanisms, she called on all their members, particularly those qualified for the program, to update their information through the i-Registro platform or through coordinating their respective city or municipal links in their respective local government units.
At present, Cabido-Sobretodo revealed that there are around 139,000 identified beneficiaries under the new program nationwide, with 6,970 beneficiaries in the Davao region.
Since F1KD was just recently launched, she said they are currently conducting orientations with the identified beneficiaries regarding their responsibilities while in the program.
She added that by the last week of January until the second week of February, they will begin releasing the cash grant to the beneficiaries. (clc/ASO/PIA XI)
