DUMAGUETE CITY, Negros Oriental, Philippines (PIA) - Seven more towns in the province of Negros Oriental will benefit from the government's pro-poor program after the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) here expanded the reach of its Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps to include more Negrense beneficiaries. The municipalities of Maninay, Manjuyod, Pamplona, Zamboanguita, and the cities of Bais and Canlaon with a total of 25,863 beneficiaries are now covered by the said program. This brings to 57,911 the total household beneficiaries in the province under 4Ps, said DSWD Region 7 Director Evelyn Macapobre. In line with this, Macapobre said a ceremonial Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) signing will take place on January 18 at the Plaza Ma. Luisa Suites Inn in this city. Expected to attend are Gov. Roel Degamo, 1st Rep. Jocelyn Limkaichong, 2nd District Rep. George Arnaiz, and 3rd District Rep. Pryde Henry Teves together with the mayors of the new 4Ps areas. 4Ps is the government's poverty alleviation program implemented through the DSWD that gives monthly conditional cash grants to qualified household beneficiaries. Each household is given P500 a month for health, and P300 per month for every qualified child for a maximum of three children per household aged 14 years old and below.
However, DSWD 7 information officer Aileen Lariba said that for these households to receive said cash grant, they have to comply with a set of conditions, namely: pregnant mothers should get pre-natal and post-natal care and must be attended by a qualified health professional during childbirth; zero to five-year-old children must be immunized and given preventive health check-ups; children aged three to 14 years old must attend classes at least 85 percent of the time whether it's day-care, pre-school, elementary or high school; and mothers must attend community assemblies, motherhood classes, family planning; and children must be given de-worming pills at least twice a year. The program was crafted with the basic goal of meeting the government's objective to reach out to 2.3 million poor families across the nation in 2011. The conditions for the cash grants were set to also help fulfill the country's commitment to meeting the Millennium Development Goals, namely: eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; achieve universal primary education; reduce child mortality; improve maternal health; and promote gender equality.
