Marcos OKs first 1,000 days grant proposal to pregnant, lactating mothers under 4Ps

President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr. on Tuesday approved the wider coverage for the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) by including pregnant and lactating mothers to ensure the health of their children in the first 1,000 days.

This as Marcos met with the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Health (DOH) and other concerned agencies in Malacañang Palace to discuss recommendations on reforming the 4Ps cash grants.

Marcos approved the proposal of the DSWD for the granting of cash grants to pregnant and lactating women to ensure that the health needs of their children would be addressed in the first 1,000 days.

“Okay. Yes. Let’s do that. On the first 1,000 days of a child’s life, bring the mother, the family into the system. That’s really good,” Marcos said during the sectoral meeting.

Marcos tasked the DSWD and the NEDA to come up with the final numbers and forward them to him so that the necessary adjustments could be done in distributing the cash grants.

It was in February when the DSWD proposed to increase the 4Ps grant amounts and provide cash grants to First 1,000 Days (F1KD) of children.

The said adjustments increase the purchasing power of the 4Ps beneficiaries and provide an incentive for them to improve compliance with program conditions that would prevent malnutrition and stunting.—RF, GMA Integrated News