The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) stands by its earlier remark that giving out cash grants is more practical and efficient compared to giving actual bags of rice worth PHP600 per month to Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) beneficiaries.

“After discussion with the Department of Agriculture (DA), we made it clear to them that this is not feasible because of the logistical requirements which may not be convenient with the beneficiaries,” DSWD Assistant Secretary Romel Lopez said in the DSWD Weekend Report which he is co-hosting with Director Aldrine Fermin of the Traditional Media Service.

DA officials have proposed to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to convert the PHP600 rice subsidy given to 4Ps beneficiaries into actual rice to be supplied by the National Food Authority (NFA) as “this will ease the price pressures of the market in terms of buying high-price rice.”

Lopez said the PHP600 monthly rice subsidy is given to qualified 4Ps members on top of their education and health grants upon compliance with specific behavioral conditions like sending their children to school, bringing them to health centers for regular check-ups, and attending the Family Development Sessions.

“There is also no provision in the General Appropriations Act for the purchase of rice, thus, there is no legal cover to begin with,” he said.

“With no legal cover, there is no need for discussion with the National Advisory Council (NAC),” he added.

The NAC is composed of members from different government agencies that include the DSWD, DA, Department of Health, Department of Education, Department of Labor and Employment, and Department of Trade and Industry, among others.

The 4Ps, a flagship program of the DSWD, currently has 4.4 million household-beneficiaries nationwide. (PNA)