PROVIDING livelihood capital or assistance, instead of cash aid, to beneficiaries of the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) will help the families better and prevent them from abusing the program, Sen. Erwin Tulfo said yesterday.
“If we give them capital they can use it to start businesses and contribute to the economy. We can provide them enough funds to start a sari-sari (variety) store, an eatery, or even engage in online selling,” Tulfo said in a statement amid reports that some 4Ps beneficiaries have been using the cash aid that they get from the government to support their vices, such as online gambling, instead of spending them for their families’ daily expenses.
“We know that since PBBM’s (President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.) term started, the priority has been poverty mitigation. But the question is how do we really do this?” he also said.
He added his proposal will likewise address the perception that the system is unfair to low-wage earners who do not receive similar financial assistance from the government.
“It is also unfair to low-wage earners like security guards, janitors, or house helper who tighten their belts due to lack of funds but receive nothing from the government such as 4Ps, since they are not qualified,” said Tulfo, who is the chairperson of the Senate Committee on Social Justice, Welfare, and Rural Development.
During his stint as secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Tulfo recalled that some 4Ps beneficiaries told him that they would rather have livelihood capitals instead of the monthly cash assistance so critics would stop calling them as “freeloaders” or “lazy”, and that “they do not add value to the country.”
“Even some 4Ps members themselves, they would rather have livelihood capital instead of monthly cash transfer… It is also hard for them to hear that they are being called freeloaders, lazy, and that they do not add value to the country,” he said.
Tulfo said he came up with the proposal due to the reported abuses plaguing the 4Ps program, adding that he would bring up his proposal with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian when he meets with them.
