Local officials told to get names off 4Ps materials

MANILA, Philippines—Posters and streamers announcing the government’s conditional cash transfer (CCT) program should no longer bear the names and photos of governors and mayors, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said on Saturday.

Interior Secretary Jesse M. Robredo said in a statement that he had instructed provincial governors and town and city mayors not to put their names and pictures on the promotional materials of the government’s “Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program” or 4Ps.

He said the order was issued on the recommendation of the National Advisory Committee on the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program composed of different line agencies led by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and “in the spirit of good governance, transparency and accountability in the implementation of the poverty reduction programs of the national government.”

The advisory committee had observed that the photos and names of some local officials were prominently displayed on the streamers and posters of the 4Ps, the centerpiece of the national government’s poverty reduction program.

The 4Ps aims to alleviate the quality of life of impoverished Filipinos by giving cash grants of up to P1,400 to indigent families with children aged 14 years and under.

In return, beneficiaries are required to send their children to school while mothers must go for regular prenatal or postnatal care.

Earlier, the DILG, DSWD and Department of Health agreed to push for the convergence of programs and projects for poor LGUs identified by the National Household Targeting System, such as the 4Ps, the health department’s Kalusugang Pangkalahatan Community Health Mobilization Program and the DILG’s Water for the Waterless LGU program.

Robredo said the convergence strategy was aimed at speeding up the implementation of poverty reduction programs and rationalizing funds.

In 2010, the DILG gave a similar directive banning the use of the names and images of officials on billboards and signs of government programs and projects, as well as on fire trucks, ambulances and police cars.