The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said 30 percent of the 1.3 million households deemed nonpoor by the department will not be delisted from the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) just yet.
DSWD Secretary Erwin Tulfo said such a figure is based on DSWD’s consultation with groups of 4Ps beneficiaries, a consultation that resulted from the DSWD’s announcement that the DSWD will be delisting 1.3 million beneficiaries from the 4Ps program since these households already reached nonpoor status, GMA News reported.
The government’s 4Ps is an anti-poverty program providing health, education, and rice assistance in the form of cash to the poorest of the poor households monthly, depending on their compliance with conditions promoting human development goals such as keeping children in schools and attending family development sessions, among others.
“There were beneficiaries na nagreklamo kasi nagka-pandemic. Wala naman sigurong yumaman [sa pandemic], kakaunti lang. To make sure na walang made-delist na mahirap, nagpatawag po ng pulong with 4Ps groups and I met them three weeks ago. Around 30 percent to 40 percent of the 1.3 million households cannot be delisted from the 4Ps,” Tulfo, quoted by the GMA news report, said during DSWD’s budget presentation of its proposed P194-billion budget for 2023 before the House appropriations panel.
Tulfo, however, noted that the validation of the list is still ongoing and safety nets are in place.
Tulfo, however, said that the delisting of 4Ps beneficiaries won’t mean that the government won’t be assisting them anymore, GMA News reported.
“We will be informing them that they won’t be included anymore, and it will take a few months before they are delisted. But we have other programs for them, such as the Sustainable Livelihood Program as well as the AICS (Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations),” Tulfo said.
Tulfo meanwhile said the P66.2 million budget for the cash benefit of 662 million Filipino centenarians is “unfunded” under the proposed 2023 national budget.
During the House appropriations panel hearing, Tulfo said the Department of Budget and Management did not grant the DSWD’s request for funding for the Centenarians Act which provides P100,000 cash to Filipinos who reached 100 years old and above.
Other unfunded items under DSWD include the P25 billion budget forimplementation of the P500 social pension hike for indigent senior citizens as well as P2.5 billion for supplementary feeding program for hot meals of P1.7 million children and milk for 157,968 children.
Albay Representative Edcel Lagman, author of the Filipino Centenarians law, urged DSWD to take immediate action since the beneficiaries are already in the twilight of their lives.
“Why are they waitlisted? They should not be waitlisted because by the time the benefits they are looking for are available, they may not be here with us anymore,” he said.
Likewise, Tulfo called for support for additional funding so that DSWD can increase the number of its regular workers which are only at 3,000 out of 16,000 staff.
