CEBU CITY, (PNA) — The Dept. of Social Welfare and Development 7 has served more than 240,000 households in Central Visayas this year in its flagship program, the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).
DSWD 7 Director Mercedita Jabagat said that under the 4Ps, poor families are given cash of up to P1,600 a month if they follow the conditions enumerated in the program such as pregnant women undergoing pre-natal care and parents attending development sessions.
As of August this year, Jabagat said the agency has listed 240,310 household beneficiaries from 16 cities and 116 municipalities in the region which includes the provinces of Bohol, Cebu, Negros Oriental and Siquijor.
More than P5 million has also been disbursed for the agency’s livelihood program.
Jabagat said the program is considered an investment in human development, a way of keeping children in school and making sure they are healthy.
The compliance rate for the conditions has reached 94.46 percent for pregnant women and children up to five years to have regular health visits and immunizations.
Jabagat said 99.96 percent of children between six and 14 years old took deworming pills twice a year and 97.61 percent of parents attended family development sessions regularly.
Jabagat also said there is an 88.28 percent compliance for pre-schoolers aged from 3 to 5 years and 95.84 percent of children aged 6 to 14 attend school regularly.
She said a modified conditional cash transfer was also introduced for families in need of special protection with 3,700 families registered in the cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu and more than 4,500 for extended age coverage project.
For the Kapit Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS), which is a community-based poverty alleviation program, there were 330 community sub-projects that were implemented amounting to P253.14 million and 306 of which were completed.
The Sustainable Livelihood Program, which is a multi-sectoral livelihood pogram that provides enterepreneurs and employment opportunities for the poor, there were 1,293 Pantawid-listed households served with a capital of P5,024,000 disbursed.
Jabagat said 736 Pantawid households were served through micro-finance institutions and 456 were given access to employment from January to September this year.
In 2012, 1,771 Pantawid households were served and P11,901,000 was disbursed as capital seed fund while 93 non-Pantawid households were served and P320,000 was disbursed using Priority Development and Assistance Program (PDAF).
There were 807 Pantawid households who availed of funds from micro-finance institutions and 430 had access to employment.
More than 16,500 frail, sickly or older persons with disability availed themselves of a social pension amounting to P92,562,000 last year.
For 2013, 16,769 senior citizens benefited from P52,783,000 funds from the program.