February 28 ------ Over 4.4 million Filipino households will benefit from P106.3 billion allotted for the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) this year. Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman said that the 2024 budget for 4Ps is larger than the P102.610 of the previous year. “This significant funding will greatly benefit millions of our kababayans (countrymen) who are in dire need. As directed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr., we will ensure that 4Ps under the Bagong Pilipinas will be provided with needed funding support as this program serves as a lifeline that bridges dreams to reality for many Filipinos,” Pangandaman said.
Of the budget, health subsidies amount to P750 per month, while rice subsidies at P600 per month. Also included are educational subsidies varying from P300 to P700 per month for over seven million students, the DBM said. The amounts for 4Ps grants are cited in the Republic Act No. 11310, as any increases will be recommended by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
With inflation easing but still hurting consumers especially the poor, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered the DSWD not to diminish the amount of cash assistance for 4Ps beneficiaries. "We just finished a sectoral meeting with the President at isa sa mga inatasan niyang pag-aralan namin is paano huwag mag-diminish or mabawasan iyong halaga ng mga financial assistance or grants na ibinibigay natin sa ating mahihirap na kababayan (and one of his orders is to study ways to prevent the value of our financial assistance given to the poor from diminishing),” DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian said in a Palace briefing last week.
The 4Ps beneficiaries are classified as those who are poor and near-poor based on DSWD’s Standardized Targeting System and the Philippine Statistics Authority’s poverty threshold. The program will accommodate the beneficiaries ages zero to eighteen for a maximum period of seven years.
Source: mb.com.ph
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