MANILA, Philippines?With the Asian Development Bank (ADB) providing a loan of $400 million, up to 1 million Filipino families among the country?s poorest households will receive monthly cash grants of P1,400 each by the end of this year, Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman announced Thursday.

The number of beneficiary families is expected to hit 2.3 million by the end of 2011, Soliman said.

Soliman listed several criteria for a family to be entitled to such cash assistance under the so-called Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).

? Children 6 to 14 years old must be enrolled in school and attend at least 85 percent of the classes.

? Pregnant women must receive prenatal and postnatal care.

? Parents must attend Family Development Sessions.

? Children under 5 years of age must receive regular preventive health checkups and vaccinations.

? Children in elementary schools must receive deworming treatment at least twice a year.

Started under Arroyo

?We are thankful for the ADB?s approval of a $400-million loan for the expansion of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program,? Soliman said at a press briefing.

Since the program started under the Arroyo administration in 2008, about 900,000 families have received cash incentives from the government, she said.

?This is very timely as the DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development) will increase the number of families receiving monthly cash grants to 2.3 million by the end of 2011. The additional funding will go a long way in expanding the reach and coverage of the program,? Soliman said.

The program is aimed at encouraging the poorest families to send their children to school and seek regular health care.

Most vulnerable families

By giving out cash incentives, the government and the ADB hope to raise the family?s income as well as improve children?s health and school performance, officials said.

Soliman said the project would ?help the most vulnerable families move out of their vulnerabilities.?

?Conditional cash transfer programs have proven to be an effective way of keeping children healthier and in school. These programs help families break free from the cycle of poverty,? Camilla Holmemo, ADB poverty reduction specialist, said at the joint briefing.

Under the program, families that meet the health commitments will receive P500 per month.

An additional P300 per child per month?with a maximum of P900 per month?is given to families who ensure that their children attend at least 85% of the school days.

ATM cards

The DSWD said it used the 2006 National Statistics Office Census data to identify the poorest families.

The DSWD and the ADB plan a national targeting system to monitor and verify the performance of the families to ensure that the money goes directly to the beneficiaries, Soliman said.

Government institutions like Land Bank of the Philippines and rural banks will be used to send the money to beneficiaries either through the ATM (automated teller machine) or over the counter.

LandBank will provide the beneficiaries with ATM cards for their withdrawals.

According to ADB data, one in five Filipino children does not go to primary school. Of those who do, three in 10 eventually drop out. These children also do not receive preventive health care.

582,000 families

The Philippines is considered to be a ?newcomer? in conditional cash transfer programs, which are also implemented in Brazil, Indonesia, and New York City.

Since the program was established in 2008, the government has spent about P12-P15 billion for nearly 900,000 families, Soliman said.

The ADB loan should provide direct financial support to 582,000 families in the next few months.

The new beneficiaries should receive their cash grants starting October, Soliman said.

ADB officials said they approved the loan?equivalent to about P18 billion?because they saw that the project was reaping good results.

According to Soliman and the ADB, results from their monitoring showed ?positive? improvements in the school attendance and the school performance of children in the program.

The loan is payable in 25 years, with a grace period of five years. The loan will also carry a ?commitment charge? of 0.15 percent annually.

Fighting poverty

Neeraj Jain, ADB country director for the Philippines, said at a separate press conference that the loan aimed at helping the government more efficiently addresses poverty.

Jain said the cash transfer program was an efficient way to invest in human capital.

?For the Philippines, investing in human capital is necessary given that the economy is service oriented,? Jain said.

?The program is necessary to help address poverty, although this should be complemented by efforts to increase investments and increase job opportunities.?

The ADB said the program had been proven to uplift the lives of poor families in other countries.

?This project helps families escape poverty while ensuring young people have better opportunities for advancement,?? Holmemo said.

ADB said intensifying the program would eventually deliver substantial results in poverty reduction, improvement in maternal health, and education of poor children.

The Philippines, where around a third of the population of about 94 million live in poverty, is aiming to halve the incidence of poverty by 2015 under the Millennium Development Goals. With reports from Reuters and Inquirer Research