WFP activates anticipatory cash aid

MANILA, Philippines — About 42,000 household beneficiaries of the government’s conditional cash transfer program have received anticipatory cash aid from the United Nations World Food Program (WFP).

Beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) in Luzon received P4,000 each ahead of Super Typhoon Uwan’s onslaught.

Activated on Nov. 6, the anticipatory action reached around 210,000 people in five provinces in Cagayan Valley and Central Luzon, WFP country director Regis Chapman told The STAR.

The WFP worked with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to identify 4Ps beneficiaries in Batanes, Cagayan, Isabela, Aurora and Nueva Ecija.

“Anticipatory action is effectively providing aid to the most vulnerable populations before disaster strikes,” Chapman said.

“We’ve been doing some analysis and talking to people after they received (the cash aid) to understand how they’ve been using it,” he noted.

Systemization of the cash aid and implementing rules and regulations are being discussed with the DSWD and Office of Civil Defense, he said.

Thresholds for the anticipatory action were not met in Bicol, Chapman said, “but that does not preclude them from getting assistance after the event.”

For the past three years, the Philippines has been ranked as the most disaster-prone country in the world.

Thousands of families in Cebu and Southern Leyte lost their homes to Typhoon Tino.

Over 525,000 people were displaced and 8,700 homes were damaged, with reports of 224 deaths and 109 people missing, mostly in Cebu.

In September, the Philippines, with technical support from partners such as the WFP, enacted a law empowering the government to take anticipatory actions based on forecasts and risk assessments.