The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) announced on Thursday that retroactive payments for delayed education grants were credited on Wednesday, 14 August, to the bank accounts of household beneficiaries reinstated into the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) following a reassessment using Social Welfare and Development Indicators (SWDI).

The reinstatement of more than 700,000 households into the program followed the SWDI assessment, which was conducted in response to numerous requests for reconsideration from 4Ps beneficiaries after the Listahanan 3 data was released in 2022.

“We are pleased to announce that the households reinstated into the 4Ps program have already received their education grants through the LandBank of the Philippines. These 4Ps beneficiaries whose grants were temporarily put on hold while the SWDI assessment was being conducted,” said 4Ps National Program Manager and Director Gemma Gabuya.

Gabuya stated that the retroactive payments, covering the pay periods for the 10-month education grants for 2023, were credited to the accounts of more than 650,000 4Ps household beneficiaries.

The 4Ps National Program Manager explained that the delayed health grants and rice subsidies for the reinstated households during these pay periods had already been distributed from December 2023 to June 2024.

Gabuya added that another batch of more than 120,000 reinstated 4Ps households is expected to receive their retroactive payments for education grants, health grants, and rice subsidies on 17 August. “We acknowledge that these grants are vital for the reinstated families and are committed to ensuring that these funds reach them promptly,” Gabuya emphasized.

Under the 4Ps program, the health and nutrition grant for each household beneficiary is P750 per month, with a P600 monthly rice subsidy. The education grant amounts to P300 per month for elementary students for 10 months; P500 for junior high school students; and P700 for senior high school students.

“After the assessment using the SWDI tool, we found out that these households, who were initially tagged as non-poor by the Listahanan 3, still need support from the program to help them achieve self-sufficiency. It is noted that their level of well-being, as assessed by the Listahanan 3 in 2019, was halted due to the pandemic which struck in 2020. Hence, we reinstated them to become eligible for the grants that will help them improve their status,” Gabuya explained.

The SWDI assessment now serves as the basis for determining the exit of 4Ps household beneficiaries from the program, as outlined in the National Advisory Council's (NAC) Resolution No. 1 series of 2023 and operationalized by DSWD through Memorandum Circular No. 19 series of 2023.

The assessment categorizes households into three levels based on economic sufficiency and social adequacy: level 1-survival, level 2-subsistence, and level 3-self-sufficient. This tool helps the program identify the necessary interventions to aid families in achieving self-sufficiency.

The 4Ps program, launched in 2008 and institutionalized in 2019 through Republic Act No. 11310 or the 4Ps Act, provides cash grants to 4.4 million households to support their children’s education through subsidies for elementary and senior high school and health and nutrition grants.