OVER 600,000 beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) have not received their educational grants for 2023 due to significant budget cuts initiated by Sen. Imee Marcos. The Senate’s realignment of funds under the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) budget has led to this shortfall.
In the hearing today of the House Committee on Public Accounts, chaired by Rep. Joseph Stephen “Caraps” Paduano, DSWD representatives disclosed the need for P3.9 billion to cover the 2023 educational grants for 667,608 4Ps beneficiaries.
DSWD officials explained that the earlier projected deficit of P9.5 billion for the 2023 4Ps program — comprising P6.5 billion for educational grants and P3 billion for rice subsidies — was based on initial estimates, which have now been corrected with validated beneficiary data.
“Na-confirm na po natin na nung nakaraang budget season tinapyasan ng P8 bilyon po ng sponsor (ng budget sa Senate) ng DSWD ni Sen. (Imee) Marcos. And it wasn’t fair dahil ang utilization rate at that time, allegedly was at 45 percent pero kalahati lang ng payment cycle ang kinonsider natin,” stated 4PS Party-list Rep. Jonathan Clement “JC” Abalos.
“The big issue now is the availability of cash on hand. So paano po natin mapapaglilingkuran ang ating mga benepisyaryo na hindi pa nakakatanggap ng cash grant mula last year mula nung sila ay ma-reassessed?” Abalos added.
At the time, Abalos noted that the DSWD was still validating the list of 4Ps beneficiaries and could only pay those who had been confirmed as qualified recipients of the educational grant.
Paduano highlighted that the DSWD had promised stakeholders they would retroactively pay the qualified household beneficiaries once the list was validated.
“However, since the DSWD’s budget has been decreased, they could not fulfill this duty and promise unless we find solutions now,” he emphasized.
Aside from the P3.9 billion deficit for 2023, a projected P6.5 billion deficit for the 4Ps program is anticipated for 2024.
Anabelle Luna, vice president of Samahang Nagkakaisa ng Pamilyang Pantawid (SNPP) of Manila, shared that many 4Ps recipients face hardships due to the DSWD’s failure to deliver the educational grants.
“Bilang isang beneficiary po, malaking pangamba sa katulad ko na nagpapa-aral ng anak na hindi na po sa tama yung natatanggap sa schedule ng mga payouts. Parang suntok sa buwan kung meron bang laman ang aming mga cash card,” she expressed.
“Alam po namin na ito ay ayuda pero malaking bagay po ang magagawa nito na magiging tuntungan namin para naman hindi na kami manatiling mahirap,” Luna added.
A total of P13 billion was cut from the 4Ps program under the 2023 DSWD budget. However, Rep. Romeo Acop pointed out that the House did not propose any cuts to the DSWD budget during its deliberations.
“Tama po yun sir, sa GAB (General Appropriations Bill), sa GAB version that addresses our requirements,” confirmed DSWD Undersecretary Adonis Sulit.
To address the issue, DSWD Undersecretary Fatima Aliah Dimaporo informed the committee that the department has already written to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and is “hoping to hear from them soon.” DBM officials are currently exploring whether there are remaining funds in the 2023 appropriations that could be used. If not, another option is to include the needed amount in the 2025 budget proposal for the DSWD.
