Beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, or 4Ps, wait for their turn to receive financial assistance. (File photo from the Facebook account of the Department of Social Welfare and Development)
MANILA, Philippines — The government has allotted P106.335 billion for the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) in 2024, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said Tuesday.
The current amount is nearly a P4 billion increase from the P102.610 billion 4Ps allocation in 2023, according to the agency.
“This significant funding will greatly benefit millions of our kababayans (countrymen) who are in dire need,” DBM Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said in a statement.
“As directed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr., we will ensure that 4Ps under the Bagong Pilipinas will be provided with needed funding support as this program serves as a lifeline that bridges dreams to reality for many Filipinos,” she said.
The allocation would cover 4.4 million Filipinos eligible under the program. Each of them would receive P750 per month for health subsidies and P400 per month for rice subsidies as a 4Ps recipient, the DBM noted.
READ: Rice instead of cash for 4Ps recipients? Marcos contemplates – DA exec
The funding would cover more than 7 million students, who should get a P300 to P700 monthly educational subsidy.
However, Department and Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian said in a previous statement that the subsidy amount varies per 4Ps beneficiary, depending on their needs.
READ: Marcos wants DSWD to adjust cash aid for inflation
Also, previously, the President ordered the adjustment of 4Ps and other government cash aids based on inflation.
“He wanted us to find ways so as not to diminish or decrease the value of financial assistance or grants that we give to our poor countrymen. The economic team is doing all it can to slow inflation, but we should also protect the peso value of the grants we give to our 4Ps beneficiaries and other social protection programs,” Gatchalian said earlier.