DSWD eyes over 40K new 4Ps beneficiaries in W. Visayas

By John Noel E. Herrera 

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)-6 aims to add over 40,000 new household beneficiaries to the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) or conditional cash transfer in the region in 2023.

DSWD-6 4Ps Division chief Belen Gebusion said the target coverage for the government’s cash transfer program in the region increased to 345,919 households. Western Visayas currently has 323,888 actual count of beneficiaries, which means that they still need to fill 22,031 slots to reach the target.

Gebusion explained that aside from the increase in target coverage, 18,203 identified households tagged as ‘non-poor’ were recommended by the DSWD for delisting.

“This early on, I’d like to add nga kung ang 18,203 would be added to the 22,031 nga slots naton in relation to our increased target coverage, so more or less we need to recover 40,234 households to make the 345,919 target for 2023,” Gebusion said.

DSWD-6 said these additional beneficiaries will fill the target coverage for the program this year and replace identified non-poor households who have already graduated or exited the program which had been included in the cleansing of the 4Ps list.

Data from DSWD-6 indicated that out of the more than 40,000 identified new 4Ps beneficiaries in the region, over 12,000 households came from Negros Occidental, followed by Iloilo with over 10,000 households; Antique (over 6,000 households); Capiz (over 5,000 households); Aklan (over 4,000 households), and Guimaras with over 1,000 beneficiaries.

Gebusion clarified that they prioritized households that have three or more children who are all attending school to be included in the program.

Meanwhile, DSWD-6 previously said that graduating households will be endorsed to their respective Local Government Units (LGUs) for the provision of complementary services subject to their eligibility requirements.

In 2022, DSWD-6 noted that there were around 134,930 identified poor households added as new beneficiaries of the 4Ps.

The agency also reported that a total of 87,678 households would be cut from the 4Ps list in the region, as part of their intensified cleansing campaign.

It included 24,476 households in Iloilo City; 23,687 in Negros Occidental; 18,691 families in Capiz; 8,829 in Aklan; 8,692 in Antique, and Guimaras with 3,303 families.

4Ps is a poverty reduction strategy of the government under the DSWD that provides grants to extremely poor families to improve their health, nutrition, and education, particularly for their children aged 0 to 18.