4Ps TO GET ADDITIONAL P650 AS RICE SUBSIDIES UNDER DIGONG ADMIN

4Ps TO GET ADDITIONAL P650 AS RICE SUBSIDIES UNDER DIGONG ADMIN

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Starting next year, 4.6 million beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) will receive additional cash equivalent to 20 kilos of rice monthly from National Food Authority (NFA).

This is one of the promises of President Rodrigo Duterte in his State of the Nation Address last July.

(WATCH VIDEO:DUTERTE TO DSWD: PROVIDE MONTHLY RICE SUBSIDIED TO THE POOR)

According to Hope Hervilla, assistant secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), this is a part of an improved Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program of Duterte Administration.

The first proposal was 20 kilos of rice per month per family but Senate President Pro-Tempore Franklin Drilon push for the provision of cash subsidies instead of rice supply to the beneficiaries of 4Ps, due to "terrible" system of distributing heavy pack of rice to families.

In line with this, DSWD Secretary Judly Taguiwalo agrees to Drilon's proposal.

The budget for the 20 kilograms of rice per month, at P32.50 per kilo based on the National Food Authority retail price, would approximately translate to an increase of P650 in the monthly stipend of the 4Ps beneficiaries. 

The government has allotted P23.4 billion budget for the rice subsidy program next year.

The 4Ps program was first introduced in Abra province in 2009 by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and was continued by former President Benigno Aquino III.

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CASH GRANTS

The 4Ps has two types of cash grants that are given out to household-beneficiaries:

• health grant: P500 per household every month, or a total of P6,000 every year

• education grant: P300 per child every month for ten months, or a total of P3,000 every year (a household may register a maximum of three children for the program)

For a household with three children, a household may receive P1,400 every month, or a total of P15,000 every year for five years, from the two types of cash grants given to them.

(WATCH VIDEO: YOUNG 4Ps BENEFICIARIES TO UNDERGO LIFE SKILLS SEMINAR)

CONDITIONS AND COMPLIANCE

In order to receive the abovementioned subsidies, all the succeeding conditions must be met by the household-beneficiaries:

• Pregnant women must avail pre- and post-natal care, and be attended during childbirth by a trained professional;

• Parents or guardians must attend the family development sessions, which include topics on responsible parenting, health, and nutrition;

• Children aged 0-5 must receive regular preventive health check-ups and vaccines;

• Children aged 6-14 must receive deworming pills twice a year; and

• Children-beneficiaries aged 3-18 must enroll in school, and maintain an attendance of at least 85% of class days every month.

(WATCH VIDEO:DSWD AGREES TO INCLUDE FAMILIES REMOVED FROM 4Ps IN RICE SUBSIDY PROGRAM)

At least 1.3 million families who will be removed from the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) next year will still be included to its rice subsidy program.

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