More than 150k Western Visayas households benefit from 4Ps

By Rjay Zuriaga Castor

The Department of Social Welfare and Development in Western Visayas (DSWD-6) reported that the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) continues to support vulnerable families in the region, with 151,801 active households currently enrolled.

DSWD-6 Officer in Charge Joselito Estember said these households include 274,873 children, from preschool to senior high school, who are covered under the program’s education conditionalities.

He said the program also monitors 10,384 beneficiaries under the First 1,000 Days (F1KD) initiative, which provides an additional PHP 350 monthly cash grant to pregnant women and children ages 0 to 2.

To strengthen program implementation, Estember said the DSWD has distributed F1KD kits to case managers to improve the quality of monthly Family Development Sessions for beneficiaries.

He added that a total of PHP 4.1 billion in cash grants has been released to 4Ps beneficiaries in Western Visayas so far this year.

Meanwhile, 117,850 households have graduated from or exited the program, including 100,179 households that completed the maximum seven-year residency required under Republic Act 11310.

Estember said DSWD-6 is targeting another 100,179 beneficiaries for exit from the program this year.

The 4Ps uses the Social Welfare and Development Indicators to assess the well-being of beneficiary households during regular monitoring.

These indicators classify households into three levels—survival, subsistence, and self-sufficient—based on measures of economic sufficiency and social adequacy.

Households progress through these levels through compliance with program conditions, case management and targeted interventions aimed at helping families meet their needs independently.

“That is why we are making a significant investment in our case workers so they can focus on each household and provide proper case management,” Estember said.

He explained that 4Ps case workers, also known as case managers, are frontline DSWD staff responsible for managing program implementation at the community level.

Their duties include monitoring compliance with program conditions, providing counseling, linking families to social services, and addressing concerns such as child labor or domestic violence.

Estember said the number of case workers will not only be maintained but will be increased to strengthen service delivery.

“This is to at least help in securing the case management process, especially in achieving self-sufficiency,” he said.

The 4Ps is the Philippine government’s flagship poverty-reduction program, providing conditional cash transfers to poor households to improve health, nutrition, and education outcomes and help break the intergenerational cycle of poverty.