Chapter 1

Promblem and Background

Introduction

Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program is a human development program of the

national government that invests in the health and education of poor households,

particularly of children aged 0-18 years old. Patterned after the conditional cash transfer

scheme implemented in other developing countries, the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino

Proram provides cash grants to beneficiaries provided that they comply with the set of

conditions required by the program. It provided that they comply with the conditions set

by the programs objectives.

Social Assistance -provides condition cash assistance to the poor to elleviate

their immediate needs (short term poverty). Social Development aims to break

intergenerational cycle of poverty through investment in humans capital i.e., education,

health, and nutrition (long term). Who are qualified for Pantawid Pamilya Pilipino

Program? A household may qualify for as a beneficiary if it satisfies two (2) criteria : 1.)

at the time of the survey the household must be classified as poor, based on the national

household targeting system for poverty reduction (NHTS-PR) and 2.) Have a pregnant

woman and/or children 0-14 years old as household members. Thus being included in the

NHTS-PR list of poor household does not automatically qualify a household for Pantawid
Pamilya Pilipino Program, on the same manner, not all households with a pregnant women

or young children as members will qualify for the program.

What are the Condition of the Pantawid Pamilya Pilipino Program?

Health and nutrition conditions require periodic checkups, growth, monitoring and

vaccination for children 0-5 years of age; twice a year intake of the worming pills for

children 6-14 years old, pre and prenatal care for pregnant woman and attendance of

parents in family development session where responsible parenthood is discussed.

Education conditions include day care and school enrollment, attendance equivalent to

85% percent of school days for children 3-14 years old, both conditions are meant to

improve the poor household economic prospect to help them move out of poverty.

The Goal of Pantawid Pamilya Pilipino Program or 4Ps is to send healthy children in

school. However, our partner beneficiaries can only avail program if their children are aged

0-18 years old or until they finish high school.

What does the program offers to household? Household that comply with all the health

conditions will receive P500 per month, household that comply with the education

conditions will receive P300 per child per month. Up to three qualified children can benefit

from the education grant. Education grants will only be given during months with classes.

The cash grants, which are given every two month’s will be received directly by household

beneficiaries through their land Bank cash cards or through over the counter payments at

land bank branches. The Land Bank also utilizes other modes to distribute the cash in hard

to reach areas such as off-site payment, and G- cash remit. Other payment schemes are

continuously being explored, also in collaboration with the private sector.

Is Pantawid Pamilya Pilipino Program program dole-out?

No conditional cash grants are given only to households which comply with the Program

Conditions. Beneficiary sign an Oath of Commitment, there by establishing a "social

contract", where they agree to take number of concrete steps to improve their lives and

those of their children. Beneficiaries who fail to comply with certain conditions will not

receive the Benefit corresponding to the conditions and are given reminders. Failure to

comply for a third time will lead to suspension of cash grants, in which beneficiaries are

given 12 months to appeal and comply. Failure to comply for fourth time will render the

beneficiary ineligible and will be given notice that they will be delisted.

Does Pantawid Pamilya Pilipino Program encourage indolence (laziness) or mendicancy

among its beneficiaries? Absolutely No, first, the conditional cash grant only arguments

the household income and assist parents to support their household basic needs. The

amount is not enough to support a family and will therefore not lead productive members

of the household to stop working or stop looking for work. Second this assistance is only

temporary. Beneficiaries are expected to graduate from the program after 5 years. The

program has family development sessions where beneficiaries are taught about responsible

parenthood (duties and obligations) and how to supplement.

In BATAAN Majority or 68.45% of poor individuals of ages 3-18 years old within this

province were attending school, they were mostly found within the municipality of

Dinalupihan, Mariveles and Hermosa.9 The poor households put importance to education

as evidenced by their attendance to school. Looking into age by level of schooling, 81.08%

of the poor individuals whose ages were within the interval 6-11 years were attending

elementary, 46.36% of the poor individuals whose ages were within the interval 12-15
years were attending high school, and 8.16% of the poor individuals whose ages were

within the interval are 16-18 years were attending collegiate level. Notable is that 67.47%

of the total poor households with school age children attends public school. The highest

educational attainment of poor individuals are significant in the levels of no grade

completed (21.45 %) and high school (14.50 %). %. Majority of the poor households within

this province had no grade completed. High concentration of these poor individuals can be

found in the municipality of Dinalupihan, Mariveles and Hermosa..

The Department of Social Welfare and Development patterned the conditional cash

transfer system from developing countries particular in Brazil and Mexico by John Gerald

B.Santiago.[4] In 2007, the DSWD pre-pilot tested in municipalities

of Sibagat and Esperanza in Agusan del Sur; the municipalities of Lopez

Jaena and Bonifacio in Misamis Occidental, the Caraga Region; and the cities

of Pasay and Caloocan in a 50 million pesos budget.[5]It was renamed Pantawid Pamilyang

Pilipino Program (4Ps) by Santiago and Samantha A. Vizconde on July 16, 2008 by

administrative order number 16, series of 2008 and set implementing guidelines. It is the

flagship poverty alleviation program of the administration of former President Gloria

Macapagal-Aroyo[6]. It aims to educate many Filipino children starting from pre-school

education to secondary education by giving them daily allowances as they go to their daily

classes. Their parents benefit from the program since their children learn a lot in school

and they are also given dietary allowances for food of their children as their children go to
schools.It is patterned after the conditional cash transfer (CCT) schemes in Latin American

and African countries, which have lifted millions of people around the world from poverty.