The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will remove persistent non-compliant beneficiaries under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).

This after the approval of the National Advisory Council (NAC) Resolution 1 series of 2021, “Adopting the Guidelines for the Removal of Persistently Non-Compliant Beneficiaries in the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).”

4Ps Cebu Provincial Link Brigieda Goron (right) conducts a composite spot check to 4Ps beneficiaries in Pilar, Cebu.

Republic Act (RA) 11310 Section 12 states, “should the qualified household-beneficiary so notified persists in not complying with the conditions within a period of one (1) year since the day of receipt of the written notification, the household-beneficiary shall be removed from the program.”

The corresponding guidelines provide safeguards to support the persistently non-compliant household beneficiaries resolve the barriers impairing them from complying the program conditions.

A non-compliant beneficiary will be case managed where the beneficiary acted on the problem with appropriate steps to resolve it guided by the case manager.

Through the case management process, the beneficiary undergoes a transformative process, as he/she is guided with new information and ways, evaluate past ideas, beliefs, and understanding through critical reflection leads to a change of perception. The beneficiaries must value the program membership and understand the conditions to be complied with, including health and education. Their difficulty in compliance can be resolved by addressing the root cause of the problem.

For education, it usually is the eagerness to earn and contribute to the family income, which is mostly not enough. The beneficiary could be provided access to alternative learning modalities offered by the Department of Education (DepEd). The program impact evaluations have shown high school graduates have higher earning opportunities than those who did not graduate high school and much higher if they graduate college.

On a case-to-case basis, the compliance problem could be addressed directly. The case management process outcome would subsequently keep them on track and remain in the program after the appropriate case management intervention.

Under the resolution, non-compliant household beneficiaries will not immediately be terminated and removed. Instead, be given a one-year evaluation period to prove that they are willing to comply with the program conditions.

The implementation of the corresponding guideline shall commence on the first period (P1), covering the month of February and March of the Compliance Verification/Payment Cycle for 2021.

The RA 11310 became law in April 2019. It is the government’s major poverty alleviation program that invests in the health, nutrition, and education of poor eligible households. These, with the psychosocial and educational component provided through the Family Development Session (FDS), lead the beneficiaries to have improved and sustained well-being.

The beneficiaries who complied with the program conditions in a particular period will receive their full grants. These conditions include sending and keeping the school-aged children in school, pre and post-natal care of mothers, regular and preventive check-ups of children aged five and below, deworming of children aged six to 14, and attendance to the monthly FDS.

Based on the law, households may receive Php 750.00 for compliance on health and FDS; children monitored by the program in elementary will receive Php 300.00 while those in junior high receive Php 500.00 and Php 700.00 for children in senior high school.

The education grants benefit a maximum of three children in a household and cover only 10 months per school year. ###

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