by: Josiah Paulo Mendoza, Gladys Fe Montebon
4Ps members participate in their monthly community-based projects
To alleviate poverty — this is the main goal of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or commonly known as 4Ps. This program provides cash grants to extremely poor households to allow the members of the families to meet certain human development goals.
It was launched way back 2007, yet for seven to 13 years, a report from the Commission on Audit showed that 3.82 million active household beneficiaries have remained under the poverty threshold.
September this year, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has expedited the cleansing of the 4Ps list. Families whose school-aged children had already graduated or have reached past 18 years and those who have voluntarily waived or given up their slots as beneficiaries were removed from the program to cater more new beneficiaries.
Among the hundred thousand 4ps members that was tagged is Nora Avila, who lives in Santa Maria, Bulacan and has been a beneficiary for almost ten years.
WATCH: Nora Avila, a 4ps member shared her reaction after she found out she was delisted from program beneficiaries.
Avila, 51 years old, does not have a permanent job. She said that mostly she only earns a little amount, about 200 pesos from selling foods such as turon, banana cue and others. Her husband, Joselito Villalon, 63, is a jeepney driver despite his senior age.
She said that her husband lost his job during the pandemic and only after three months was he able to return to driving a jeep. They have three children, one in college and two in high school.
Even then, her husband's income was not really enough to send his three children to school, including the house bill, water and electricity. In 2009, the DSWD had her family verified if they are eligible to be part of the program and after 3 years, she became an official member of the 4ps in 2012.
“Walang wala kami. Extra lang ang asawa ko. Tapos nag aaral lahat ng anak ko. Walang wala talaga kami nung time na iyon. Tapos nung medyo nag uumpisa na kaming kasali dyan. Malaki na ang tulong sa amin [4Ps] nyan.” she said.
Every two months, she would receive 1300. During her first pay out, only one of her three children receives money from the program. Then after 2 years, her payout increased because her youngest child was included too.
She shared that she often uses it to help pay her daughter's college tuition and sometimes, she uses it to pay their water or electricity bill.
“KAILANGAN NA KAILANGAN PA [R]IN NAMIN TALAGA’
Despite being part of the program, Avila said she still finds her life so hard. On the day that several members were told about their delistment from the program, they were asked to write an essay about their experience as 4ps members in recent years.
“Kailangan na kailangan pa din namin talaga” these were the words she wrote in that essay.
She said that if she would be removed from the program, she had no choice but to find ways to sustain the needs of her family, “Hahanap ako ng paraan. Hindi naman pwede na hindi patuloy ang pag aaral ng mga anak ko. Hindi naman pwede na magutom na lamang kami.”
Avila’s struggle of sending her children to school, particularly her college student, described the reason why she still wished to be part of the program. One of the basis for delistment is a household whose school-aged children have already graduated or have reached past 18 years. According to the Philippines Unemployment data, there are 202,000 Senior High School graduates in Oct 2022. This records an increase from the previous number of 191.000 SHS graduates for Sep 2022.
To “create a functional basic education system that will develop productive and responsible citizens equipped with the essential competencies, skills and values for both lifelong learning and employment, the Department of Education (DepEd) envisioned the SHS program to produce graduates prepared for higher education and capable of starting their own businesses or land a job even without a college degree.
However, in a world where people are striving to find a job, being a senior high school graduate is not enough to compete with others who have a degree. Hence, graduation in senior high school should not be the basis for the delistment of the program.
ISSUES OF PAST ADMINISTRATIONS FOR 4PS PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION
Throughout the years, the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) contributed supplemental aid for the Filipinos. There are lives of underprivileged Filipino families lifted using the said program as projected by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). According to a study conducted by the World Bank, the poverty rate in the Philippines reduced to 1.4 percent or 1.5 million lesser poor families with the help of the program 4Ps. But still, this lead is adequate and questionable in determining the face of poverty in the Philippines and developments or progress from the implementation of cash aid for the poor Filipinos behind the so-called successful campaign of Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) to Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).
Let’s dissect different facts and perspectives related to this issue using a timeline -
According to the study of Social Weather Stations (SWS), 32.9 Filipino individuals and families out of the current population of 88.6 million were still poor in 2007. Including factors about the rise of unemployment, inflation rate, quality of education, inequality, etc. Upon the successful pilot test from two cities and municipalities, Former President Arroyo provided additional 5 billion pesos for the first wave of the CCT program to 320,000 underprivileged Filipino families.
At the end of the year 2008, the allocation was expanded and distributed in 17 regions (45 provinces) of the Philippines. Almost half of the country’s population received a regular payout for the CCT program of the administration. After the administration of Former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, she left the country with 17% from 34% by 2010 based on the results of the conducted study by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation and with the support of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Through the help of Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) is somehow helpful for some beneficiaries. But, according to the IBON Foundation, a non-governmental organization fighting for good governance, as of January 2010, the number of underemployed Filipinos rose to 11.4 million, more than 3.1 million in January 2001.
During the administration of Former President Benigno Aquino III, he developed the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), bringing total efficiency for the usage of masses, especially improving the value of cash payouts, paid checkups for pregnant moms, free enrollment for daycare, primary and secondary schools nationwide, deworming for children, free vaccination, and free family development sessions. His administration triumphed about 4.4 million 4Ps beneficiaries. Though, some of the critics of the administration called patronizing "the culture of mediacy"
The poverty rate during and after his administration was quietly good, leading the country to revive the economy for being a Rising Tiger in ASEAN nations in general. But, some regions experienced poverty in 6 regions according to Vera Files: National Capital Region (NCR) with 19%, CARAGA Region (Region XIII) with a percentage of 5%, and Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) with 11% percent.
The administration of Former President Rodrigo R. Duterte, who signed the institutionalization of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4PS), boosted the values of payout for beneficiaries. Categorization for qualified beneficiaries like indigenous peoples, farmers, fisherfolk, and homeless people for those people who are in informal settlements and in disadvantaged areas. The IBON Foundation criticized the Duterte administration for being the third worst performing country in economic stability, weak job generation and highest unemployment rate in Southeast Asia.
DEVELOPMENT UNDER MARCOS JR. ADMINISTRATION
Clean. Clean. Clean. This is what President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. suggested for over 1.3 million beneficiaries under the confirmation of DSWD Secretary Erwin Tulfo. The President wants to revolutionize the list of beneficiaries for those who are completely qualified because of their current situation.
Historically, the conditional cash transfer program started from the Arroyo administration, down to the 4Ps program of the Aquino III administration, signifies how the administration of Former President Benigno Aquino III fortifies the implementation of the 4Ps program covering more underprivileged Filipino families. The Pamilyang Pantawid Pilipino Program (4Ps), formerly Bangong Pamilyang Pilipino, presented by Former Senator Leila De Lima, who served as principal sponsor and author of the passage of this current law, Republic Act No. 11310 An Act Institutionalizing the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).
Though the main goal of the 4Ps law is to eradicate extreme poverty in the Philippines, this 4Ps law highly covers different factors to improve the quality of education, health, and nutrition of the beneficiaries using the cash grant.
The fact that the Duterte administration, who institutionalized the 4Ps law, failed to clean the list of beneficiaries was the main problem under the Marcos Jr. administration. The ballooning population of cash grant recipients are still benefiting from payouts of the local government starting from the execution of the program of the Aquino III administration.
WATCH: President Bongbong Marcos speech about cleaning of DSWD’s 4Ps list during the State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 25, 2022.
The implementation of the said reforms for 4Ps members will remain problematic as millions of beneficiaries of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) need to declutter out from the list, especially questionable ones.
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