DSWD dole recipients must do ‘green’ tasks, say QC dads

MANILA, Philippines–The Quezon City Council said it would ask the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to require its cash dole beneficiaries to work for environment-related projects as an additional condition for receiving such assistance.

The councilors on Monday approved on third and final reading a resolution asking the DSWD to include as a condition in its Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) the beneficiaries’ participation in community greening efforts for at least four hours monthly.

Authored by District 2 Councilor Estrella Valmocina, the resolution noted the DSWD’s 4Ps covers some 3.9 million households nationwide as of June 2013 and that they could be mobilized to help the government promote environmental protection.

The beneficiaries, for example, could be asked to keep their barangays (villages) clean and orderly; plant and nurture at least 10 trees per household; help in unclogging waterways and sewers; or work in other community-based environmental projects.

Make them “productive and empowered members of their respective barangays and not mere indolent recipients of government grants,” the councilors said in the resolution.

At present, 4Ps beneficiaries are required to do the following in order to receive a monthly P1,400 grant: Parents should attend family development sessions; pregnant women should undergo regular and preventive health checkups and receive pre- and postnatal care; family members should avail themselves of vaccination and deworming services; and children must be enrolled in public schools and must achieve 85-percent class attendance.

“In order for the government to infuse environmental consciousness among its people, more particularly the beneficiaries of the 4Ps, government leaders should inspire them to be involved in relevant community-led projects and initiatives aimed at preserving a healthy biodiversity and balanced ecology,” the councilors said.

Copies of the resolution would be sent to Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman and the 4Ps national program director.