MANILA- Beneficiaries of the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) or the /Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) will receive the first tranche of President Rodrigo Duterte’s promise of a monthly rice subsidy in March.
Leonardo Reynoso, the national program manager of the 4Ps said beneficiaries who will meet the conditions set by the program would receive cash grants worth P600 per month on top of the cash benefits allotment.
The rice subsidy, along with the usual cash benefits allotment, are distributed every two months which is why cash grants for January and February will be handed out in March, Reynoso explained.
Reynoso added that one of the priorities of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) this year is to conduct a “Project Kumustahan” starting April to see how 4Ps beneficiaries have been doing since they were enrolled in the program.
“Aalamin po natin kung ano na ang kanilang mga kalagayan sa buhay, nakatulong ba ang programa? Kinakailangan ba ng ibang serbisyo ng DSWD? Ang atin po kasing napapansin, kapag may pamilyang mahirap, agad na naisasaisip na isali sila sa Pantawid Pamilya,” Reynoso said in an interview on dzMM Sunday.
(We will check how they are doing, whether the program was of help and whether they need other services of the DSWD. What we notice is whenever there is a poor family, the first instinct is to enroll the family in the 4Ps.)
Reynoso also reiterated that no additional households will be enrolled in the program.
For 2017, DSWD is eyeing 4.4 million households under the program. According to Reynoso, as of January 31, 4, 387,371 households are actively enrolled.
Reynoso also clarified that the 4Ps is only one of the many solutions in addressing poverty and noted that the DSWD has been conducting studies of other possible models that can be used to address poverty.
“Ito pong Pantawid Pamilya ay isang paraan lamang po ito at hindi naman po sinasabi ng ating pamahalaan, sa pamamagitan ng DSWD, na ang Pantawid Pamilya ang tanging solusyon lang para maibsan ang ating problema sa kahirapan,” he said.
(The Pantawid Pamilya is only one solution. The government is not claiming that through the DSWD, the Pantawid Pamilya is the only solution to alleviate poverty.)