The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has welcomed the higher 2024 budget allotment of P112.8 billion for the 4.4 million beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).
“We thank the Marcos administration for this higher budget allocation for the 4Ps program. This will benefit the qualified and compliant beneficiaries, ensuring that they will continue to receive the grants that will help them attain self-sufficiency and eventually break the intergenerational cycle of poverty in their families,” DSWD Assistant Secretary for Strategic Communications Romel Lopez said.
Lopez, who is also the agency’s spokesperson, made the statement in response to the announcement of Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Mina Pangandaman that the budget allocation for the 4Ps under the 2024 General Appropriations Act (GAA), which is higher compared to the Php102.6 billion in the 2023 GAA.
Lopez said the increased allotment for the 4Ps this year signifies the government’s intensified effort in supporting poor families anchored on President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s vision for a “Bagong Pilipinas.”
“This significant increase demonstrates the current administration’s
commitment to uplifting the lives of our poor kababayans,” the DSWD spokesperson emphasized.
With the increase in funding, Asst. Lopez pointed out that poor
households who comply with the conditions of the program will
continue to receive their grants that are intended for the improvement of the children’s education, nutrition, and health.
Under the program, 4Ps household-grantees receive Php750 monthly grants for health, Php600 for rice, and educational subsidies ranging from Php300-700 per month for over 7 million students within the program.
Last year, some 600,000 households nationwide attained
self-sufficiency and graduated from the program until March 2024.
For this year, the 4Ps National Program Management Office headed by Director Gemma Gabuya is targeting 900,000 households to achieving self-sufficiency and formally exit from the program.
The 4Ps “Pugay Tagumpay” graduation ceremonies have been made possible through the help of local government units (LGUs) which provide the logistics and venue for the graduating beneficiaries.
The DSWD spokesperson assured the public that the government resources entrusted to the agency will be used for the intended purpose of further empowering Filipino families to break free from poverty.
“This effort to increase the funds of the 4Ps will not only enable the
DSWD to implement its program effectively, but also serves as the
realization of the President’s directive to strengthen assistance for
vulnerable sectors by ensuring sufficient funding,” Lopez said.
4Ps serves as the government’s flagship poverty reduction strategy and a human capital investment program that provides conditional cash transfers to poor households for a maximum period of seven years, to improve the health, nutrition, and education of children aged 0-18.