SOCIAL Welfare Secretary Erwin Tulfo yesterday said the number of families that might be delisted from the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) could go up to two million as the agency continues to “cleanse” the current list of unqualified households.
Tulfo, in an interview with CNN Philippines, said that based on the report of the DSWD’s
National Household Targeting System team, 1.3 million families or households have already “graduated” from being poor and are now classified under its “non-poor section.”
Likewise, Tulfo said the department is still verifying the status of more than 600 families to determine if they should stay on or would be removed from the program.
He said initial reports that reached him showed that the supposed family beneficiaries are either no longer living in their listed residence or have refused to talk to their team.
Tulfo reminded beneficiaries of the 4Ps program that the subsidy is “conditional,” which means that they need to comply with certain requirements to stay on the program.
“Isa sa kondisyon, you have to inform the DSWD kung lilipat ka from one barangay going to another barangay. Nandoon rin sa kondisyon, if we come to your house and ask you questions for an update, kailangan papasukin mo kami, sagutin mo kami (One of the conditions is you have to inform the DSWD if you are transferring from one barangay to another barangay. Another condition is, if we come to your house and ask you questions for an update, you should let us in and answer us),” he said.
Other conditions include ensuring that covered school children go to school, young kids and pregnant women avail of government health services, and the family income fall below the poverty threshold.
Tulfo said failure to meet the requirements could lead to the beneficiaries’ delisting from the 4Ps list.
The 4Ps program currently benefits 4.2 million households.
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Meanwhile, Tulfo said he has yet to talk with the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) the status of the Targeted Cash Transfer (TCT) subsidy which was supposed to run until September.
The TCT, which aims to provide a P500 monthly subsidy to poor families for six months, was conceptualized during the Duterte government.
Tulfo said that apart from the initial P6 billion sourced from government savings and was released by DBM for the financial assistance, no additional allocation was included in the 2022 national budget.
Asked if he could assure that the second and third tranche would still be given, Tulfo said:
“I have yet to talk to Secretary (Aminah) Pangandaman of DBM.”
Tulfo said aside from DSWD, other departments are also in dire need of cash.
He said as far as he knows, only 90 percent of the targeted 12.4 million poor households have already received the first tranche of P1,000 which covered the months of April and May, while the remaining 10 percent has yet to receive their subsidy.
He said DSWD has not yet receive the funds for the second tranche of P1,000 covering June to July and the third tranche of P1,000 for August to September.
