The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is pleased with the higher 2024 budget allotment of PHP112.8 billion for the 4.4 million beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), a senior official of the agency said Wednesday.

“We thank the Marcos administration for this higher budget allocation for the 4Ps program. This will benefit the qualified and compliant beneficiaries, ensuring that they will continue to receive their grants that will help them attain self-sufficiency and eventually break the intergenerational cycle of poverty in their families,” DSWD spokesperson Romel Lopez said in a news release.

Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Mina Pangandaman announced on Tuesday the budget allocation for the 4Ps under the 2024 General Appropriations Act (GAA), which is PHP10.23 billion higher compared to the PHP102.61 billion budget in 2023.

Lopez said the increased allotment for the 4Ps this year signifies the government’s intensified effort in supporting poor families anchored on President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s vision for a “Bagong Pilipinas.”

“This significant increase demonstrates the current administration’s commitment to uplifting the lives of our poor kababayans,” Lopez, also DSWD Assistant Secretary for Strategic Communications, said.

With the additional PHP10 billion, Lopez said poor households who comply with the conditions of the 4Ps program will continue to receive their grants that are intended for the improvement of the children’s education, nutrition and health.

Under the program, 4Ps household-grantees receive PHP750 grants for health, PHP600 for rice and educational subsidies ranging from PHP300 to PHP700 per month, benefiting over 7 million students nationwide.

Last year, some 600,000 households graduated from the program and attained self-sufficiency status.

For this year, the 4Ps National Program Management Office headed by Director Gemma Gabuya is targeting 900,000 households to achieve self-sufficiency and formally exit from the program.

The 4Ps “Pugay Tagumpay” graduation ceremonies have been made possible through the help of local government units (LGUs) which provide the logistics and venue for the graduating beneficiaries.

Lopez assured the public that the government resources entrusted to the agency will be used for the intended purpose of further empowering Filipino families to break free from poverty.

“This effort to increase the funds of the 4Ps will not only enable the DSWD to implement its program effectively, but also serves as the realization of the President’s directive to strengthen assistance for vulnerable sectors by ensuring sufficient funding,” he said.

The 4Ps serves as the government’s flagship poverty reduction strategy and a human capital investment program that provides conditional cash transfers to poor households for a maximum period of seven years, to improve the health, nutrition and education of children aged 0 to 18. (PNA)