NOT YET ‘GRADUATES’ Beneficiaries of the 4Ps poverty alleviation program in Lucena City form a long line to the ATM kiosk of a Land Bank of the Philippines branch in Lucena City to receive their monthly aid, in this photo taken on Aug. 26, 2011. —DELFIN T. MALLARI JR.
MANILA, Philippines —- The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is planning to graduate 500,000 beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) to make room for more beneficiaries, said Edu Punay, the agency’s officer-in-charge.
The 4Ps is the national government’s poverty alleviation program with the goal of giving monthly monetary assistance to the poorest of the poor while breaking the intergenerational poverty cycle, according to the Official Gazette.
“The objective is to cleanse, malinis, i-update ang beneficiaries natin, kasi marami po doon ay matatagal na sa programa, so marami tayong naka waitlist dito sa 4Ps natin, kaya na kailangan natin mapa-graduate ngayon. Mapalitan para maka-accomadate tayo ng bagong beneficiaries,” said Punay in a press conference.
(The objective is to cleanse, polish, update our beneficiaries, because a lot of them have been in the program for a long time, we have a lot of others waitlisted in our 4Ps, that is why we need to graduate now. Replace so that we can accommodate new beneficiaries).
Punay said that they already graduated 106,000 people from 4Ps last year. For 2023, the DSWD plans to accept 600,000 new beneficiaries.
He explained that the graduated 4Ps are those who they have seen were able to already uplift themselves from poverty, based on the agency’s observations.
According to Punay, there were 4.4 million 4Ps beneficiaries in 2022, which was 362 percent over the DSWD’s capacity.
However, those graduating from the 4Ps program can apply for inclusion in theSustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) to prevent slipping below the poverty line.
“Doon naman sila pipila sa SLP para yung puhunan nga na iyon kasi mawawala sila ng subsidy monthly. So yun na yung pang-sustain nila yung SLP natin where they will be given puhunan of P15,000 na panimula,” said Punay.
(They will apply to the SLP for that livelihood, since they will no longer have a monthly subsidy. So that will help sustain them, where they will be given P15,000 to start).
Those who apply for the SLP will undergo an application process that includes assessment interviews, and even home visits from social workers, said the OIC.