THE House of Representatives is pushing a bill that would upgrade the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).
House Majority Leader Ferdinand Alexander Marcos, who represents Ilocos Norte’s 1st district, reported to Speaker Faustino Dy III that the House Committee on Appropriations was working to identify funding sources for the bill.
“Passing a consolidated 4Ps bill is important to strengthen support for education, health, and nutrition. It will help the government provide more sustained assistance to Filipino households,” Marcos said.
“We want to strengthen social protection for the country’s low-income households,” he said.
The House Committee on Poverty Alleviation, led by former president and now Pampanga 2nd District Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, has approved the bill that consolidated measures filed to amend the 4Ps Act.
The measure aims to increase the monthly cash grant for the education of children of 4Ps beneficiaries to P500 from P300 for day care and elementary students, to P700 from P500 for junior high school students, and to P900 from P700 for senior high school learners, for up to 10 months annually.
It also aims to increase the monthly health grant to P1,800 from P750 for up to a year and to provide an additional monthly P400 to children with disabilities.
The bill calls for a Food and Nutrition Cash Grant worth P1,100 monthly for up to a year annually.
There would also be a First 1,000 Days cash grant worth P400 monthly for children up to two years of age. Lawmakers said these additions strengthen the 4Ps as both a poverty-alleviation and human capital development program, ensuring that children from poor households get a better start in life.
They said that the expanded program “aims to reduce intergenerational poverty and help build a healthier, more productive workforce.”
