4Ps funds hiked to P112.8 billion in proposed 2024 national budget By TED CORDERO, GMA Integrated News

The Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) flagship poverty alleviation initiative is getting a bigger allocation under the proposed P5.768-trillion National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2024. The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) of the DSWD would get an allocation of P112.8 billion. The 4Ps’ budget for next year is higher by P10.23 billion compared to the P102.61-billion budget the program received in the 2023 General Appropriations Act (GAA). The amount will benefit 4.4 million eligible household beneficiaries of the program. Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said the proposed 4Ps allocation includes P103.161 billion for various cash grants, such as P750 per month for health subsidies catering to 4.4 million households, educational subsidies ranging from P300 to P700 per month for over seven million students, and P600 per month as rice subsidies for 4.4 million households. “The recommended budget for Fiscal Year 2024 shows an increase of P3.725 billion when compared with the actual utilization of P109.111 billion in Fiscal Year 2022,” Pangandaman said. “The rise is due to the increased number of students, moving from 1.493 million senior high school (SHS) students in FY 2023 to an anticipated 1.628 million SHS students in FY 2024, who will be provided with an educational allowance,” she added. In his Budget Message, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he approved the National Economic and Development Authority’s (NEDA) recommendation for the Social Protection Floor (SPF) framework which aims to institutionalize the existing social protection programs. These include the universal healthcare and feeding programs, and the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) Program, which holds a crucial role in the government’s comprehensive strategy to alleviate poverty and promote social development. The DBM defines the 4Ps as a human development program that provides conditional cash grants to the poorest of the poor families to improve the health, nutrition, and education of children ages zero to 18 years old. Beneficiaries of the program are identified through the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR). Republic Act (RA) 11315, enacted in April 2019, provides the adoption of a Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS) that generates updated data necessary for targeting beneficiaries, more comprehensive poverty analysis, and interventions and monitoring impact over time. —NB, GMA Integrated News

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