DAGUPAN CITY, Philippines – Officials of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) are going around five provinces amid reports that some unscrupulous politicians are telling beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) that the money came from them.
“We have instructions from our secretary to come down to correct that information and we would not allow that to go on… It might be... believed by the people if not addressed,” Assistant Secretary Javier Jimenez told journalists here on Wednesday.
Javier said they have been receiving text messages from 4Ps recipients in Zambales, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Samar and Zamboanga City that some politicians have been telling them to vote for them in 2016 or they will be delisted from the program.
“They could not claim that the grant came from them… Only the DSWD can enroll 4Ps beneficiaries and remove them from the list if they fail to comply with the requirements,” he said.
Javier said politicians or any government official are barred from displaying their photo in activities attended by 4Ps beneficiaries.
“We are always non-partisan,” he said.
The DSWD has allocated P62 billion this year for the 4Ps, which now has 4.4 million beneficiary-families nationwide.