CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines – The Department of Social Welfare and Development-10 (DSWD-10) has reminded the public that political candidates cannot enroll or remove beneficiaries of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), one of the government’s poverty alleviation programs.
In a statement, DSWD-10 regional director Nestor Ramos said only the agency has the authority to include or delist families from the program.
Ramos said the 4Ps is a poverty-reduction initiative of the national government and is being implemented with other national government agencies and as such, no political personalities have a say on its operations and policies.
“Our political candidates have no hold in the inclusion and exclusion processes of 4Ps,” he said.
The regional director has also assured the 4Ps beneficiaries that they can vote in today’s barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections without fear of being delisted from the program no matter who voted for.
Ramos added the DSWD is no longer enrolling families to the program since it has already conducted its second round of household assessment last 2015 under its system called the “Listahanan.”
“We have already finalized our list of beneficiaries for the 4Ps, and we are now making sure that these families are benefiting from the Program through their children’s education and health,” he said.
Should there be families who are not included in the 4Ps but need assistance from DSWD, Ramos said the agency has other social protection programs that can cater to their needs such as the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP), social pension, Assistance for Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS), among others.
“We would be happy to assist them provided that they fall under the qualifications of the programs we have,” he said.
To date, there are 268,503 active 4Ps beneficiaries in Northern Mindanao, the DSWD-10 said.
Among the provinces in the region, Bukidnon has the most number of 4Ps members with 86,853, followed by Misamis Oriental with 72,576; Lanao del Norte, 68,538; Misamis Occidental, 34,764; and Camiguin, 5,772. (davaotoday.com)
