The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), launched in 2008 and institutionalized in 2019 by Republic Act No. 11310 or the 4Ps Act, is the national poverty reduction strategy and human capital investment program that provides conditional cash transfer to poor households for a maximum period of seven (7) years, to improve health, nutrition and education.
In view thereof, the 4Ps aims to: improve the health and nutrition of young children and mothers by promoting preventive health care; increase the enrollment and attendance rate of children in child development centers, preschool, elementary, and secondary schools; contribute to the reduction of child labor incidence; raise the average consumption rate in food expenditure of poor households; encourage parents to invest in their children’s health, nutrition, and education; and, enhance the performance of parenting roles of beneficiaries and their participation in community development activities.
As general criteria, beneficiaries are households that: are classified as poor and near-poor based on the Standardized Targeting System and the poverty threshold issued by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) at the time of selection; have members who are aged zero (0) to eighteen (18) years old or have members who are pregnant at the time of registration; and, are willing to comply with a set of conditions.
Program conditions are the following: children 3-18 years old must enroll in school; daycare or preschool, elementary and high school children must have 85% class attendance rate in a school year; elementary and high school children must be dewormed twice a year; children 0-5 years old must be fully immunized and monthly weighed (for 0-23 months old) or bimonthly weighed (for 24-72 months old); pregnant women must avail of pre-and post-natal health check-up; child delivery should be attended by a professional healthcare provider; and, parent beneficiaries must attend the Family Development Sessions.
Cash grants representing the program benefits are as follows: Health Grant of ₱750.00 per month for each household; Education Grant of ₱300.00 per child in elementary, ₱500.00 per child in junior high school and ₱700.00 per child in senior high school, with a maximum of three (3) children per household for 10 months in a school year; and, Rice Subsidy of ₱600.00 per month for active and compliant households. Cash grants are computed according to compliance with said conditions and are released every two (2) months.
