LAPU-LAPU CITY, Philippines — Some 3,871 families in Central Visayas have already graduated from the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).
Randie de Gracia, Family Development Session (FDS) focal person of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD-7), said that of this number, 1,078 families have graduated after they had become self-sufficient.
De Gracia said that the program aimed to upgrade the living condition of poor families, from level 1 or survival and level 2 or subsistence to level 3 or self-sufficient families.
“Ang level 3 or self-sufficient, pasabot nga enough na gyud ang ilang income ang kita sa pamilya, igo na,” De Gracia said.
(The level 3 or self-sufficient, this means that their income or what the family earns is sufficient.)
Aside from achieving a self-sufficient level, De Gracia said that 4Ps families would also exit the program if they would bo longer have a monitored child of 0-18 years old, those who had violated the conditions, those who voluntarily exit the program, and after seven years based on Republic Act No. 11310 or the 4Ps Act.
For those families who exited the program who were not yet self-sufficient, De Gracia said that the local government units (LGUs) would continue to assist them.
He said that the assistance and monitoring of LGUs to 4Ps beneficiaries, who graduated from the programs would be very important, to ensure that they would no longer slide back to survival or subsistence level.
“In fact, dinhi sa atong rehiyon, 42 ka LGU ang nagpahigayon og ceremonial graduation nga didto gipapaso nato atong mga pantawid nga ni-graduate na,” he added.
(In fact, here in our region, 42 LGUs, held a ceremonial graduation where those, who graduated from the program, were recogized).
De Gracia reiterated that 4Ps beneficiaries were selected from the National Household Targeting System (NHTS) or also known as Listahanan, a list of identified poor families in the country.
Aside from this, qualified families in the program are those with a child of 0-18 years old or with a pregnant mother during the Listahanan survey and are willing to comply with the conditions of the program.
Among the conditions of the program are: Pregnant women must avail of pre and post-natal care, and be attended to during childbirth by a trained professional; Parents or guardians must attend the family development sessions, which include topics on responsible parenting, health, and nutrition; Children aged 0-5 must receive regular preventive health check-ups and vaccines; Children aged 6-14 must receive deworming pills twice a year; and Children-beneficiaries aged 3-18 must enroll in school, and maintain an attendance of at least 85% of class days every month.
Currently, Central Visayas has 257,108 active households enrolled in the program.
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