DAVAO CITY – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office XI is reminding the public, especially the beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) that no political candidate or incumbent politicians can enroll and include poor families or delist them from the program.

Earlier, DSWD received reports that there are some political candidates who threaten beneficiaries of being delisted if they do not vote for them or the candidate they are endorsing.

“Only DSWD can include poor families in the program and can delist beneficiaries from it. A household can only be removed from the program if it does not comply with the program conditions or does not have eligible children,” DSWD Regional Director Mercedita P. Jabagat said.

Identification of Pantawid beneficiaries was based solely on Listahanan, the Department’s information management system that identifies who and where the poor are through household assessment.

DSWD shall ensure that beneficiaries are protected from undue politicking and must remain free of political influence and manipulation. Beneficiaries can only be delisted if proven that they do not adhere to the conditionalities set by the program which include regular attendance of their children in school, attendance of parent-beneficiaries in the monthly Family Development Session, and regular check-up of mothers and children in health centers, Director Jabagat said.

DSWD encourages the general public to be more vigilant and to report politicians claiming credit from the program or such activities that aim to discredit the integrity of Pantawid Pamilya.

The public may file their complaints through Grievance Text Hotline 0918-912-2813 or via social media -Facebook: DSWD Region XI; Twiiter: @dswdfo11; Instagram: @dswdfo11, or they can visit the DSWD Regional Office or directly report to concerned Pantawid Municipal or City Link.

Pantawid Pamilya is a human development program of the national government that invests in the health and education of poor households primarily of children aged 0-18. To date there are 255,002 beneficiaries in Davao Region. (DSWD)