Senator calls for scrutiny of 4Ps implementation

MANILA, Philippines — Due to its being “abused”, it is high time to look into the law that institutionalized the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), Sen. Erwin Tulfo said on Friday.

Tulfo, a former Department of Social Welfare and Development chief, made the call after a consultative meeting with his DSWd chief Rex Gatchalian.

The neophyte senator said there is a need to scrutinize 4Ps beneficiaries who are receiving cash grants from the government even though their lives have already improved.

“The President wants it to be studied, because the 4Ps have been abused a bit,” Tulfo said in a statement in Filipino.

As of March 13, 2024, there are 721,083 beneficiaries of the 4Ps program, according to the DSWD website.

But Tulfo noted that some of them are already staying in the program for too long, preventing other people from benefiting from the unconditional cash transfer.

“We already have backlogs; there are those still in the waiting list,” he also stressed.

Tulfo said the Senate will make legislation about the 4Ps under the Republic Act No. 11310 or the law that institutionalized the program.

“I think it’s really high time that we look into this,” Tulfo said.

“It’s unfair to others that we just keep on feeding this group of people. How about the others?” (Louie Mark Reyes, Inquirer.net trainee)

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