January 14, 2025 | 2:03pm
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) stood by its grant initiative to support pregnant women under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).
The DSWD has begun implementing the First 1,000 Days (F1KD) program, which aims to support 4Ps women during the critical stages of a child’s growth, covering them from ages 0 to 2 years old.
When asked why the government is providing aid to pregnant women when children should be the parents’ responsibility, DSWD chief Rex Gatchalian said the amount could hardly be considered an incentive.
Under the program, mothers receive P350 per month. Beneficiaries of the F1KD program would get approximately P13 per day, which Gatchalian described as “negligible.”
Why give them aid then? Gatchalian said it was “to defray the cost.”
Many families under the 4Ps program are far from their schools and health centers. The grant would at least augment their expenses when they avail of education and health services.
The 4Ps is a conditional cash grant program. Under the program, beneficiaries must adhere to the DSWD’s conditions, which include enrolling their children in school and ensuring regular vaccinations and checkups.
“Walang study, paulit-ulit na pinapakita na nagkakaroon ng incentive dahil masyadong maliit iyong grants para magbuntis ka o magkaroon ka ng anak. But rather, ito ay tulong natin sa kanila para matustusan nila iyong gastos na magko-commute papunta sa health center,” Gatchalian said.
(There is no study that shows that there is an incentive because the grants themselves are too small to become pregnant or to have a child. But rather, this helps them with the costs of commuting to go to the health center.)
The DSWD secretary also said that the idea of parents inherently knowing what to do does not always hold true in real life.
A lot of the beneficiaries are teenage mothers who must be protected, Gatchalian said.
Other factors must also be considered, such as the lack of health centers in remote areas.
The DSWD reported that at the start of 2024, there were a total of 4.4 million 4Ps families nationwide. By the end of the year, the agency recorded 4 million 4Ps households, indicating that 400,000 households graduated from the program.
More than half of the DSWD’s 2024 budget was allocated to the 4Ps program. For the 2025 budget, P64.18 billion was earmarked for the 4Ps.
Amid high inflation rates, the Social Weather Stations recently reported that self-rated poverty reached a 21-year high, with 63% of Filipino households considering themselves poor.
Be the first to comment