SOCIAL Welfare Secretary Erwin Tulfo yesterday said 100,000 low-wage earners solo parents will be included in the list of beneficiaries of the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino program (4Ps).
Tulfo, in a press briefing Thursday afternoon, said one of the benefits of the Expanded Solo Parent Act of 200 or Republic Act 11861, which took effect last November 1, is the prioritization of solo parents with school children and who are minimum wage or below minimum wage earners in the selection of new 4Ps beneficiaries.
The Expanded Solo Parent Act lapsed into law last June 4.
Tulfo said the 100,000 indigent solo parents are among those who will replace the estimated 500,000 4Ps families who have already graduated or have been removed from the current list.
“Maglalagay ng 100,000 plus solo parents nationwide na pasok sa requirements, gaya ng below minimum wage pay (workers at) may pinag-aaral na anak. Ipapasok namin (sila) sa 4Ps (We will include 100,000 plus solo parents nationwide who will satisfy the requirements, like below minimum wage pay workers [and] with children who are still studying. We will include them in 4Ps),” he said.
Tulfo said other benefits that solo parents will enjoy under the law includes a P1000 monthly cash subsidy from their respective local government units, provided they are not already receiving any other cash assistance from the government and are minimum wage earners, automatic coverage under the PhilHealth’s National Health Insurance program, and access to scholarships and other educational programs of the Department of Education (DepEd), Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).
Solo parents are likewise entitled to a one-week leave in addition to the company allotted leave per year, priority processing in employment, low-cost housing projects through the National Housing Authority (NHA) and in the Sustainable Livelihood Program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD); and 10 percent discount and exemption from the value-added tax (VAT) on the child’s milk, food, micronutrient supplements, sanitary diapers, duly prescribed medicines, vaccines, and other medical supplements from the birth of the child until they turn six years old, among others.
Tulfo, however, said the implementation of the VAT exemption and discounts will be delayed until the end of November pending the release of the guidelines by the Department of Finance (DOF) and Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), and the calibration of cashier registries and the like.
He said qualified solo parents must present their Solo Parent identification cards (IDs), which is issued by the DSWD and LGUs, to avail of the benefits.
The law has expanded the definition of solo parents, which is no longer limited to a parent who is abandoned to care for a child or who is separated from a spouse and left with the custody of caring for the child.
Solo parents now include husbands or wives of overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who are left in the country by their partners for year or more and guardians, like uncles, aunts and grandparents, who care for the child who is left by an OFW parent/s.
SENIOR CITIZENS
As this developed, the office the Press Secretary said the Landbank of the Philippines has distributed the prepaid cards or automated teller machines (ATMs) of 3.4 million indigent senior citizens who are beneficiaries of the Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT) or pensioners of the Social Pension Program for Indigent Senior Citizens under DSWD.
“Magagamit nila ito sa pagkuha ng ayuda. Ang pamamahagi ng prepaid cards ay kabilang sa Social Pension Program for Indigent Senior Citizens ng DSWD na maaari ring gamitin para sa mga cashless transactions sa mga pamilihan tulad ng drugstores at groceries (They can use this to receive their subsidy. The distribution of prepaid cards is part of the Social Pension Program for Indigent Senior Citizens of DSWD and can be used for cashless transactions in drugstores and groceries),” OPS said in a Facebook post.
It added that around 10 million senior citizens are enrolled in the DSWD program.
Social pensioners can now conveniently receive their cash grants and perform other banking transactions.
The elderly’s prepaid cards can be used to withdraw, free-of-charge, at the ATMs of 1,980 7-Eleven convenience stores in selected areas and in Landbank’s 2,899 ATMs around the country.
