DSWD eyes rollout of increased 4Ps cash grants next year

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Monday said it is targeting to distribute the adjusted cash grants under the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) in 2025. 

DSWD Assistant Secretary JC Marquez said the agency will prioritize this year the development of a proposal to increase the amount of cash grants for the 4Ps beneficiaries, in coordination with the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), and Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS). 

“Hopefully, magawa natin ‘yung panukala this year at for implementation hopefully next year,” Marquez said in an Unang Balita interview. 

(Hopefully, we could make the proposal this year and implement it hopefully next year.) 

DSWD earlier said it is taking into consideration the impact of inflation in the plan to raise the 4Ps cash grants.

The adjusted amount will be determined based on the discussions of concerned agencies and organizations, Marquez said. 

“Nasa proseso pa tayo ng pag-aaral at masusing pinag-aaralan natin ito kasama ang ating nabanggit na ahensya at makakaasa kayo na oras na mabuo ang panukala ay ibabahagi namin sa inyo ang mga detalye nito,” he said. 

(We are still in the process of studying the proposal and we are studying it thoroughly with the aforementioned agency. Once the proposal is done, we will share its details with you.) 

Prices of consumer goods and services in the Philippines rose for the fourth straight month in May, settling at 3.9%, according to the PSA. This brought the year-to-date inflation rate to 3.5%, still within the government’s target range of 2% to 4%.

Currently, Marquez said that 4.4 million households nationwide are active members of the government’s conditional cash transfer program. 

As of the first quarter of the year, he said the DSWD has identified 700,000 households that are now self-sufficient and could therefore graduate from the 4Ps. —KBK, GMA Integrated News