DSWD eyes nearly 1.2 million additional households for 4Ps

MANILA, Philippines —  The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is looking into the eligibility of almost 1.2 million households to be enrolled in the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).

Social Welfare Assistant Secretary and spokesperson Irene Dumlao said a total of 1,184,768 households are undergoing validation to determine if they are qualified to receive 4Ps benefits based on the program’s criteria.

To qualify for the program, she noted that the identified “poor and near-poor households of families” must be willing to comply with the conditionalities and must have at least a 0 to an 18-year-old family member and/or a pregnant family member at the time of registration.

Dumlao added that once they are validated and found eligible, these households will replace the beneficiaries who have exited from the program.

Earlier, the DSWD announced that 434,317 households had been validated as eligible to enroll in 4Ps. They will be next in line to replace the beneficiaries who have graduated from the program.

The program was launched in 2008 as a national poverty reduction strategy and human capital investment program that provides conditional cash transfers to poor households for a maximum period of seven years.

It is intended to improve children’s health, nutrition and education.