Only pregnant and nursing mothers who are enrolled and registered as beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) can receive the expanded cash grant under the “1st 1000 Days” initiative of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), according to the 4Ps national program manager on Thursday.

“Talagang kailangan linawin natin kasi marami na pong nagpapalista na mga buntis at may 0 to 2 years old. Liwanagin lang po natin. So, ngayon kailangan maliwanag na ang magiging beneficiaries nito ay iyong talagang existing na beneficiaries ng 4Ps. Hindi siya outside ng 4Ps (We need to clarify this because there are already a lot of pregnant women and those with 0 to 2-year-old children who want to enlist. Let us make this clear. We need to clarify that the beneficiaries of this are the existing beneficiaries of 4Ps, not outside 4Ps),” 4Ps National Program Manager Gemma Gabuya told reporters during the Thursday Media Forum at the DSWD Central Office’s New Press Center in Quezon City.

Gabuya explained that the additional grant, which is proposed at PHP400 per month, is also subject to the beneficiaries’ compliance with the program conditions.

“Nais nating linawin na ito ay dagdag grants lamang sa existing na health grants na nakukuha nila (We want to clarify that this is an additional grant to the existing health grants they are already receiving),” she said.

She said the DSWD is currently coordinating with the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) to identify the target number of beneficiaries of the expanded cash grants and the budget needed for its implementation.

“Nag-uusap-usap na po ang NEDA, kami sa DSWD para linisin ang data. Syempre we really need to come up with accurate data, kung ilan talaga. Kasi it will require also budget (NEDA and we at the DSWD are already discussing to come up with a clean data. Of course, we really need to come up with accurate data on how many should be included. Because it will also require a budget), how much it will entail,” the DSWD official pointed out.

Currently, 4Ps households are receiving cash grants for the education, nutrition, and health of the monitored children.

Under the DSWD’s 4Ps program, household-beneficiaries receive grants on the condition that their children attend school and are brought to health centers for their monthly medical check-up.

Household beneficiaries of 4Ps with elementary students receive PHP300 per child per month for 10 months; PHP500 per child per month for 10 months for junior high school; and PHP700 per child per month for 10 months for senior high school.

Household-beneficiaries also get PHP750 per month in health grants for 12 months provided that their children aged two to 14 years old undergo a growth development and monitoring program and deworming.

The 4Ps, implemented by the DSWD, is a national poverty reduction strategy institutionalized under Republic Act No. 11310 or “An Act Institutionalizing Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps)”.

It puts a premium on giving indigent families the means to break-away from the intergenerational cycle of poverty through human capital investments. (PNA)