P13-B 4Ps: House giveth, Imee taketh, says Suarez

A House leader on Sunday eyed passing a supplemental budget to address, if not reinstate, the P9-billion deficit in the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), reportedly depriving over four million indigent Filipinos of assistance.

Deputy Speaker David Suarez said an additional budget could address the “4Ps crisis” allegedly created by Senator Imee Marcos when she realigned the P13 billion from the program to other government social amelioration endeavors.

Senator Marcos’ 4Ps budget cut has purportedly prevented 843,00 families, or 4.3 million poor Filipinos, from receiving financial support, according to Suarez.

“We can’t stomach that four million Filipinos are not receiving their grants in the 4Ps mandated by law. Their suffering should not be worsened because there were months or years when they did not receive the help that should have been given to them,” Suarez said.

Marcos, who sponsored the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) budget in 2023, was accused of redirecting P13 billion 4Ps funds to other “quickly implementable” social amelioration programs of the agency in the bicam report of the 2023 General Appropriations Act.

Senator Marcos had brushed off as “malicious” claims that she led the P13 billion budget cut in the 4Ps, saying that the DSWD, during the committee hearings, admitted that only 45 percent of the program’s budget had been spent, with a single quarter to go.

“My conviction, as it has always been, was that the DSWD budget must be retained at all costs, as the poor would suffer all reductions and losses. Thus, the P8 billion from the 4Ps was saved and benefited countless marginalized sectors,” Marcos previously said.

The realignment, however, drew criticism from House members, who claimed that it contravened Republic Act 11310, otherwise known as the 4Ps Act.

A recent House Committee on Public Accounts and Social Services hearing confirmed the P9-billion deficit in the 4Ps budget.

Suarez contended that the House-approved 2024 national budget contained the “complete” and “intact” 4Ps funding.

Suarez earlier said that he is puzzled about why P13 billion was suddenly slashed in the budget after it reached the Senate.

“Now, I don’t know how we can describe a situation where we robbed a poor person. Because usually, the rich are the ones who are robbed,” Suarez earlier said.

He said the 4Ps is not merely a regular program but a law with specific beneficiaries and objectives, which necessitates secured funding to support its intent.