4Ps launched in Daraga town

LEGAZPI CITY, July 7 – Some 1,000 poor families from this town are set to receive their P1,400 monthly allowance each, starting this week.

They comprise the third batch of the initial 5,000 beneficiaries so far in Albay under the Pantawid Pamilya Pilipino Program or 4Ps, a poverty alleviation program designed to uplift the living standard of the country’s poor and to help the country achieve the Millennium Development Goal 2 on primary participation and cohort survival.

During the inaugural session of the new members of Sangguniang Panlalawigan, Tuesday, Governor Joey Salceda said in Albay alone, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) had identified some 45,000 out of the 70,000 poor households qualified under the program, who will receive P1,400 per month for five years with an annual expenditure of P710 million, almost comparable to the province's annual budget.

“It was a most fulfilling experience in public service to see off a batch of beneficiaries ride the jeep at the Daraga public market en route to the Land Bank of the Philippines branch in Legazpi City,” Salceda said.

A few months ago poor households in Albay started receiving their allowances; 1,000 families in Polangui town and 3,000 in Libon. On July 20, this year, another 1,000 families in Pioduran will start to benefit from this best practice-good governance program of DSWD.

Salceda was among those who worked for the implementation of 4Ps during the past administration which he served as economic adviser.

“We are quite encouraged by the policy statement of President Benigno Simeon Aquino II that this would be the only program of the past administration that he would continue,” Salceda said, adding that the program is backed up by newly appointed DSWD Secretary Dinky Soliman.

This program will enable Albay to achieve the Millennium Development Goal 2. With a total 45,000 school age kids out of school, this program must be stepped up in terms of scope and speed given the 2015 MDG deadline, he added.

Salceda said the 4Ps budget must be doubled to P30 billion next year to cover the entire 3 million school-age-kids-not-in-school throughout the country, from the current coverage of 1.5 million with a budget of P15 billion. (PNA) LAP/LQ/MDR/cbd

Similar Posts:

• PGMA, Albay ink P977.3-M fund for 4Ps to benefit 70,000 poor families
• PGMA okays P977-M fund for Albay''s 4Ps benefeciaries
• Govt okays P977.3-M fund for Albay Pantawid Pamilya Program
• Town execs hail full implementation of Conditional Cash Transfer program in Albay
• CCT to be given only to deserving families — Soliman