The household beneficiaries from Western Visayas posted an exemplary compliance with the conditions set by the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).

Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Compliance Verification System Focal Person Anthony Laru-an reported that the implementation of the government’s conditional cash transfer program has been successful based on the compliance turn-out in terms of school attendance rate and regular health visitations.

“For the comparative average turn-out of school attendance among 3- 14 year-old children, Aklan tops the provinces in the region with 97.45 percent followed by Iloilo with 96.76 percent, Antique with 96.71 percent, Guimaras having 96.47 percent, Negros Occidental with 96 percent, and Capiz with 95.27 percent,” said Laru-an.

Laru-an also said that the beneficiaries have recognized the importance of regular health visitations as indicated by the average compliance turn-out.

“For health check-ups compliance, Aklan still ranks first with 99.41 percent, followed closely by Antique with 98.61 percent, Guimaras with 98.03 percent, Iloilo having 97.94 percent, Capiz with 97.04 percent and Negros Occidental with 96.50 percent,” added Laru-an. 

Household recipients need to comply with the requirements set including 85 percent of school attendance by school-children and regular visitation to the barangay health centers, in order to remain in the 4Ps Program.

Meanwhile, DSWD Regional Information Technology Officer Richard Sevilla pointed out the significant impacts of the 4Ps Program towards the education and health sector.

“Dep-Ed was able to reach its objectives to increase the number of enrollees and to reduce the number of student drop-outs. Also, there was a noted increase in the number of visiting clients in various health centers for check-ups,” said Sevilla.

The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program is a poverty-reduction strategy of the government that invests in the health and education of poor households, particularly of children aged 0-14 years old.

As per the November-December 2012 report from DSWD, the 4Ps program has 254,483 total eligible household-beneficiaries in the entire region.*PIA