The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office VII hosted the BFIRST mid-term review mission in Cebu.
BFIRST stands for Beneficiary while FIRST means Fast, Innovative, and Responsive Service Transformation, which aims to strengthen DSWD’s social protection delivery systems to mitigate the adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and be adaptive to future shocks. Likewise, it supports the government’s existing social protection programs, including but not limited to the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), and emerging areas associated with COVID-19.
International development partners attended the 3-day activity, including representatives from the World Bank, Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
Officials of DSWD and partner national government agencies like the Department of Budget Management (DBM) and the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) also attended the activity.
The participants were divided into groups and conducted field visits in Cebu City, Carcar City, Mandaue City, and Cordova. They had the chance to interact with 4Ps partner beneficiaries and with the 4Ps City and Municipal Links (C/MLs).
In the first-day field visit, half of the group went to Barangay Mambaling in Cebu City and interacted with 4Ps household members belonging to the Sama-Bajau, an indigenous people’s (IP) community living in the area. During the focus group discussion, the 4Ps beneficiaries shared their experiences and how their lives changed after getting into the program.
Another group went to Carcar City to witness the “Saulog” 4Ps ceremonial graduation and “Pagsugod” oath of commitment of new 4Ps beneficiaries.
On the second day of the BFIRST mission field visit, the participants were again divided into groups and visited Barangay Tipolo in Mandaue City and Barangay Buagsong, Cordova.
The participants observed the conduct of the Family Development Session (FDS) and interacted with the 4Ps partner-beneficiaries on how the program helped improve their families level of well-being and how they were able to access financial services using their transactional account.
After the FDS, the different groups visited the homes of the selected 4Ps partner beneficiaries who were identified as poor, near-poor, or non-poor based on the Listahanan 3 household assessment.
They also visited the different livelihood projects funded by the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) that the 4Ps beneficiaries availed of, such as sweet corn vending, a sari-sari store, fish vending, and a water refilling station.
On the third day of the activity, the participants provided their observations during the field visits, which include the strong collaboration and coordination between DSWD and the local government units, the fact that graduating 4Ps households are supported by a transition plan and linked to other programs and services, and the high compliance rates in the health and education conditionalities of the program, in which families use the cash grant to invest in their children’s health and education.
Some of their recommendations include strengthening the support for exiting 4Ps households and continuing monitoring of their welfare, promoting awareness on the multiple uses of their transactional accounts, and monitoring 4Ps beneficiaries who have not yet registered for the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys).
The assistance of the local chief executives of Cebu City, Mandaue City, Carcar City, and Cordova and partners like the Department of Education (DepEd), Presentation Sisters, Colegio de la Inmaculada Concepcion, and the Born Again Church contributed to the successful mission.
The 4Ps is the government’s major poverty alleviation program that invests in the health, nutrition, and education of poor eligible households. These, along with the psychosocial and educational components provided through the Family Development Session (FDS), lead the beneficiaries to have improved and sustained well-being. ###
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