DAVAO CITY, Oct. 14 (PIA) – The Department of Social Welfare and Development XI (DSWD) recorded high compliance of the 4Ps (Pantawid Programa ng Pamilyang Pilipino) beneficiaries to the different conditions on health and education despite environmental challenges brought by the COVID19 pandemic.

In yesterday’s One Davao Virtual Presser, DSWD 4Ps Regional Program Coordinator Margie Cabido said beneficiaries of the program significantly scored better in complying the conditions of the 4Ps, the 12-year -ld conditional cash transfer program of the agency which was enacted into law last 2019 thru Republic Act 11310.

“From April 2020 to November 2020, beneficiaries were not expected to strictly comply with the conditions set by the programs because the COVID19 pandemic is considered a force majeure. However, it was lifted in November and beneficiaries then start to be given their grant once they complied with the different program conditions,” Cabido said.

Since the lifting of the 4Ps force majeure in November 2020, the DSWD recorded a 93.32% compliance of the beneficiaries to the different conditions on education.

“Beneficiaries were able to adapt to the different learning methods such as modular, online, and blended learning and many were able to submit the requirements such as the learning modules,” Cabido explained.

On the health conditions, a higher compliance rate was also recorded with 95.27% showing that beneficiaries ensured to visit the barangay health office as needed or they see their barangay health worker at home since a house-to-house visit was also instituted to avoid mass gathering during the time of the pandemic.

In the 2019 data of the DSWSD, 28% of the total active beneficiaries or 65,861 were found to be self-sufficient.

“Using the social welfare and development indicator, we determined the status of living of the 4Ps beneficiaries and we categorized them as survival, subsistent, or self-sufficient. We found that 28% have passed the different measures such as employability, income, health conditions, education, and social awareness on issues.

Cabido stressed that attaining self-sufficiency level is also an indicator that the 4Ps Program has truthfully served the beneficiaries.

Currently, the DSWD XI serves around 251,768 households under this program and 824,500 children aged 0 to 18 years old who are the primary beneficiaries of this conditional cash transfer program.

Majority of the members are from Davao de Oro with 60,000; Davao del Norte with 56,000, Davao Oriental with 39,000, Davao City with 32,600, Davao Occidental with 33,100 and Davao del Sur with 29,000 members. (PIA XI/Frances Mae Macapagat)