SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE —).
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES )
Second Regular Session )

“18 MAY 15 P4

semeTBO6 —rcwice | SY

Introduced by Senator Ana Theresia “Risa” Hontiveros-Baraquel

AN ACT INSTITUTIONALIZING THE PANTAWID PAMILYANG PILIPINO PROGRAM
(4Ps) TO REDUCE POVERTY AND PROMOTE HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT AND
PROVIDING FUNDS THEREFOR

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Addressing poverty and reducing vulnerabilities of the poor remains a priority agenda of the
Philippine government.

At the household level, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that 21.1% and 9.2%
of Filipino families are poor and living in subsistence poverty respectively. To be considered non-
poor, a family of five would be needing at least, on a monthly average, an amount of PhP 9,140.00
to meet their food and non-food needs.

And based on the same report, the PSA reported that the income of poor families was short of
29.0% or PhP 2,549.00 to move out of poverty, and even as such, there will still be around 6.1%
of Filipino families whose income would fall below the thresholds.

And those who have not yet experienced poverty may still fall into it in the future in case of a
shocks (i.e. job loss, illness, death of head of households; natural disasters and calamities;
economic crises; etc.) with direct impact on their incomes occurs (Mina et. Al, 2017), such as the
case of the implementation of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law.

Amidst claim by the government that the TRAIN Law will set the staging ground for lifting 21
million families out of poverty in the long run because of revenues that will be spend more on
health, education and other social services (DOF, 2018), its implementation hurts the income of
the poor and burden them with price increases.

As such, to mitigate and to lessen the impact of the TRAIN law, and possible future shocks, among
the poor, this Act that aims to institutionalize the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps)
with an end view of reducing poverty and promoting human capital development is being
proposed.

The proposal highlights: (a.) inclusion and prioritization of families living in the danger zone in
the program; (b.) setting the minimum amount of conditional cash transfers for health, nutrition
and education; (c.) provision of rice subsidy and/or allowance; (d.) mechanisms for program
monitoring, evaluation and impact assessments; (e.) penalizing acts that are proven inimical to
the interest and intent of the program; and (f.) mandating a multi-stakeholder and inter-agency
convergence of services to facilitate sustained exit of the poor families from the program.

As such, the approval of this bill is earnestly sought.

ANA THERESIA Risk HONTIVEROS-B: QUEL



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(Oo, oe:
Co {ibe Seenetary

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE )

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES )
Second Regular Session ) 18 MAY 15
SENATE RECEIveDE sn.

$.B.No. 1806

Introduced by Senator Ana Theresia “Risa” Hontiveros-Baraquel

AN ACT INSTITUTIONALIZING THE PANTAWID PAMILYANG PILIPINO PROGRAM
(4Ps) TO REDUCE POVERTY AND PROMOTE HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT AND
PROVIDING FUNDS THEREFOR

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress
assembled:

SECTION 1. Short Title. ~ This Act shall be known as the “Pantawid Pamilyang
Pilipino Program (4Ps) Act”.

SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. ~ The State recognizes the need to strengthen
the solidarity of the family and actively promote its total development.

The State further recognizes its obligation to promote a just and dynamic social
order that will ensure the prosperity and independence of the nation and free the people
from poverty through policies that provide adequate social services, promote full
employment, a rising standard of living, and an improved quality of life for all.

The State furthermore recognizes the need to protect the poor; thus, the State
hereby declares it a policy to:

a) Provide assistance to the poor to alleviate their immediate needs;

b) Break the inter-generational cycle of poverty through investment in human
capital and improved delivery of basic services to the poor, particularly
education, health, and nutrition;

©) Promote gender equality and empowerment of women;

d) Achieve universal primary education;

e) Reduce child mortality; and

f)_ Improve maternal health.

SECTION 3. Definition of Terms. - As used in this Act:

a) Case Management refers to a process used by the Department of Social Welfare
and Development (DSWD) to enable household-beneficiaries improve their



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functioning by dealing with their difficulties, especially in complying with the
conditionalities of the program;

b}

Compliance Verification refers to the checking and monitoring done to ensure
that the qualified household-beneficiaries comply with conditions for
entitlement set forth by the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program;

Conditional Cash Grant refers to the amount being received by the qualified
household-beneficiaries who comply with the conditions for entitlement;

°

d

Extremely Poor refers to households, duly identified by the standardized
targeting system, whose income falls short of enabling them to provide even just
their nutritional requirements;

) Grantee refers to the most responsible adult member of the qualified household-
beneficiary authorized to receive the conditional cash transfer;

f) Grievance Redress System refers to the mechanism of the D)WD which addresses
and resolves issues and concerns related to the implementation of the Program;

8) Health Facility refers to a barangay health station, rural health unit, or primary
hospital;

h

Health Service Providers refer to barangay health workers, barangay nutrition
scholars, and midwives;

i) Poor refers to households whose income falls below the poverty threshold as
defined by the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) and cannot
afford, in a sustained manner, to provide their minimum basic needs of food,
health, education, housing, and other essential amenities of life;

Preventive Health Check Up refers to health services comprising of complete
immunization, deworming, weight monitoring, and management of childhood

diseases;

kK)

Program refers to the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) which is the
national poverty reduction strategy that provides conditional cash transfer to
poor households to improve their health, nutrition, and education;

Qualified Household-Beneficiaries refer to households identified by the DSWD for
entitlement of the monthly conditional cash grant;

m) Responsible Person refers to the parent or guardian in the qualified household-
beneficiary; and

n) Standardized Targeting System refers to a system for identifying who and where
the poor households are through the generation of socio-economic database of
poor households that is adopted by national government agencies and
implemented by the DSWD.



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SECTION 4. Selection of Qualified Household-Beneficiaries. - On a nationwide
basis, the Department shall select qualified household-beneficiaries using a standardized
targeting system. The DSWD shall conduct a re-validation of targeting of beneficiaries
every three (3) years.

SECTION 5. Local Verification Committee. - A Local Verification Committee shall
be created in every municipality or city composed of two (2) local government unit
representatives, an accredited health-service provider from the barangay, a representative
of an accredited civil society organization, and the school head as designated by the
Department of Education (DEPED).

The Committee shall be tasked to ensure that the initial list of beneficiaries satisfies
the eligibility requirements as set forth under this Act.

SECTION 6. Eligible Beneficiaries. - To be eligible for the cash grants, households
must meet the following criteria:

1. Those belonging to the extremely poor household classification are defined by
the poverty threshold of the municipality /province based on the issuance of the
National Statistical and Coordination Board (NSCB) at the time of selection; or
those households from the informal settlers sector, who will be displaced by the
clearing and relocation operations of the government: Provided, That those
residing in danger areas, such as but not limited to, esteros, riverbanks,
waterways, shorelines, garbage dumps, and railroad tracks shall be given
priority;

2. Those households which, at the time of registration into the program, have
members who are aged 0 to 18 years old or have members who are pregnant;
and

3. ‘Those who are willing to comply with the conditions specified by this Act.

SECTION 7. Conditional Cash Transfer. - Subject to certain conditions, each
qualified household-beneficiary shall receive the following:

1. A conditional cash transfer equivalent to Seven hundred fifty pesos (PhP
750.00) per month for health and nutrition expenses or the equivalent of Nine
thousand pesos (PhP 9,000.00) per qualified household-beneficiary per year.

The health/nutrition grant component aims to promote healthy practices and
family development, improve the nutritional status of young children, and
increase the use of health services by the household-beneficiary. The health
grant is a fixed amount and does not depend on the number of members in the
household.

2. A maximum of three (3) children per qualified household-beneficiary shall be
given conditional cash grants for educational expenses; subject to following
conditions:



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a. Three hundred pesos (PhP 300.00) per month per child enrolled in
elementary or the equivalent of Three thousand pesos (PhP 3,000.00) per a
10-month school year;

b. Five hundred pesos (PhP 500.00) per month per child enrolled in junior high
school or the equivalent of Five thousand pesos (PhP 5,000.00) per a 10-
month school year; and

¢. Seven hundred pesos (PhP 700.00) per month per child enrolled in senior
hhigh school or the equivalent of (PhP 7,000.00) per a 10-month school year.

3. Five hundred pesos (PhP 500.00) per month for rice allowance or equivalent of
the equivalent of Six thousand pesos (PhP 6,000.00) per qualified household-
beneficiary per year.

In the event that the child is already above 18 years old but is enrolled in or still
wished to continue his/her elementary or secondary education, he/she shall be provided
with the education grant until senior high school is completed.

SECTION 8. Conditions for Entitlement. - All qualified household-beneficiaries
shall comply with the following conditions as a requirement for continued eligibility:

a. Children aged zero (0) to five (5) years old must receive regular preventive
health-check-ups and vaccinations;

a

Children six (6) to thirteen (13) years old must avail of de-worming pills at least
twice a year;

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Children three (3) to five (5) years old must attend day care or pre-school
classes at least fifty percent (50%) of the time;

pe

|. Children must attend elementary or high school classes at least eighty-five
percent (85%) of the time;

2

Pregnant women must avail of pre- and post-natal care and give birth with the
assistance of a skilled or trained healthcare professional in a health facility; and

f At least one (1) responsible person of the household-beneficiary must attend
family development sessions conducted by the DSWD, at least once a month.

SECTION 9. Forfeiture of Grant. - The payment of cash grants will be terminated if
a household-beneficiary no longer meets the eligibility criteria provided in Section 6 of this
Act and/or does not comply with the conditions set forth in Section 8 of this Act.

The responsible person of a reported qualified household-beneficiary who fails to
comply with the conditions set forth in Section 8 of this Act shall at first be notified in
writing. After four (4) months of non-compliance, the household-beneficiary shall be
subject to case management. If, despite the case management, the qualified household-
beneficiary continues with non-compliance, the benefits under this Act may be suspended.


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Should the qualified household-beneficiary so notified persist in not complying with
the conditions within a period of one (1) year, the conditional cash grant shall be cancelled.

SECTION 10. Mode of Cash Transfer. - The conditional cash transfer shall be made
by the DSWD. The conditional cash grant shall be received by the grantee or any of the
grantee’s duly authorized representative on a bi-monthly basis through an authorized
government depository bank duly identified by the DSWD, using different appropriate
Payment modes, including cash card, over-the-counter transaction, money remittance
services, conduit rural banks, and cooperatives.

SECTION 11. Periodic Assessment. - The amounts indicated in Section 7 shall be
made available to the qualified household-beneficiaries during the first two (2) years of the
implementation of this Act and reasonable adjustments may thereafter be made by the
President, if necessary, upon recommendation by the DSWD, after taking into account the
rates of inflation and similar economic indicators.

The grant rates may be adjusted by the DSWD if warranted by the changes in socio-
economic conditions existing at the time. The DSWD shall ensure that the grant rates are
sufficient to make a positive impact on the health, nutrition, and education of grantees:
provided, that the DSWD shall ensure that the grant will not serve as dis-incentive for
family members to work and improve their economic conditions.

SECTION 12. Lead Agency. - The DSWD shall serve as the central planning,
coordinating, implementing, and monitoring body of the program.

In the implementation of this Act, the Department shall have the following functions:

a. Select and use an appropriate, effective, and cost-efficient method devised for
the purpose of identifying and selecting qualified household-beneficiaries;

b. Identify and select the target household-beneficiaries on the basis of a uniform,
objective, and transparent selection process;

¢. Conduct seminar-workshops and training programs in order to ensure qualified
household-beneficiary awareness of the conditions and other actions pertinent
to this Act;

d. Coordinate with different national and local agencies, including organizations
from the private sector to ensure full implementation of statutory commitments
herein;

e. Set up monitoring and evaluation systems and methodologies on compliance of
conditions, implementation of operations, and output and impact assessments.
It shall also coordinate with the Advisory and Monitoring committees at the
national, regional, and municipal levels to verify compliance once a month using
the monitoring and evaluation systems designed for the purpose;



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£ Recommend to the President measures and policies for the responsive delivery
of the commitments under this Act;

8. Coordinate with different national and local agencies to maintain and update
objective poverty maps which will be checked and cross-checked periodically
for duplications and inaccurate or erroneous information;

h. Formulate implementing rules and guidelines for the enforcement of. this Act;

i, Submit an annual report to Congress including, but not limited to, all aspects of
its operations, financial status, and other relevant data; and

j. Perform other functions as may be necessary or incidental to the proper
implementation of the provisions of this Act.

To ensure the effective implementation of the Program, the DSWD shall closely
coordinate with the Department of Education (DEPEd) and the Department of Health
(DOH), as regards the household-beneficiaries’ availment of education and health services.

SECTION 13. Program Monitoring and Evaluation. - The DSWD, together with
the DEPED and DOH, shall conduct a periodic impact evaluation study to assess the overall
effectiveness of the program in meeting its health and education objectives, and to address
leakages to further improve the delivery of the program. The Secretary of the DSWD shall
furnish a copy of the results of the study to Congress.

SECTION 14. Advisory Council. - An Advisory Council shall be created at the
municipal, regional, and national levels to be headed by the DSWD and may be composed of
representatives from the DEPED, DOH, Department of Interior and Local Government
(DILG), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Labor and Employment
(DOLE), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), Philippine Health
Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC), the
Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP), the local government unit concerned,
and accredited NGOs as members.

The Advisory Council is principally tasked to monitor and assess actions and
activities relative to the implementation of the program, It shall also serve as a Grievance
Committee tasked to accept complaints and grievances that may arise within their
respective territorial jurisdictions, conduct investigation on specific cases and dispose
cases filed in connection thereto, using the Grievance Redress System.

SECTION 15. Independent Monitoring Committee. - An independent Monitoring
Committee at the national level composed of representatives from the private sector and
civil society organizations (CSOs) shall be created.

The Independent Monitoring Committee is principally tasked to complement the
monitoring activities of the DSWD and provide feedback thereto for proper action. It shall
submit a report on the results of its monitoring activities relative to the implementation of
the program to the Advisory Council.



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SECTION 16. Sustainability and Convergence of Programs and Services, - A
multi-stakeholder and inter-agency convergence of programs and services shall be
implemented, focusing on the different needs beyond education and health services of the
household-beneficiaries during their coverage under the program and preparing the
household-beneficiaries for their transition after the maximum limit for the receipt of the
cash grant, or any earlier exit from the program. The convergence of the programs and
services and the preparation and implementation of a transition program shall focus on the
enhancement of operational efficiency and the strengthening of inter-agency partnerships
for greater impact and sustainability of outcomes

SECTION 17. Grievance Redress System. - The Department shall develop a
Grievance Redress System that will address complaints regarding the implementation of
this Program.

SECTION 18. Penalty. - The following penalties shall be imposed:

A fine of five thousand pesos (PhP 5,000.00) and suspension for two (2) weeks
without pay in addition to any administrative penalty that may be imposed shall be levied
to a social worker who threatens to remove the beneficiaries or offer to include non-
qualified beneficiaries;

A fine of ten thousand pesos (PhP 10,000.00) or the penalty of arresto mayor shall
be levied to a government employee or local government official who uses his/her position
to include or remove beneficiaries in exchange for other services not included as
conditionalities of this Act;

A fine of five thousand pesos (PhP 5,000.00) and removal from the program shall be
levied to a beneficiary who transfers his/her grant under the program through fraudulent
or deceitful means against the government;

A fine of five thousand pesos (PhP 5,000.00) in addition to administrative penalty
that may be imposed and suspension for two (2) weeks if he/she is a government
employee, shall be levied to any individual who falsified information or aids in the
falsification with the purpose of manipulating compliance of the conditionalities for the
cash transfer.

SECTION 19. Joint Congressional Oversight Committee. - Upon the effectivity of
this Act, a congressional oversight committee, hereafter referred to as the 4Ps Committee,
is hereby constituted. The 4Ps Committee shall be composed of: fourteen (14) members
with the chairpersons of the Committee on Poverty Alleviation of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Social Justice, Welfare, and Rural Development of
the Senate and six (6) additional members from each House, to be designated by the
Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Senate President, respectively.

This committee is principally tasked to set the overall framework to monitor and
ensure the proper implementation of this Act. It will likewise determine inherent
weaknesses in the law and recommend necessary remedial legislation or executive
measures.



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SECTION 20. Appropriations. - The amount necessary to carry out the provisions
of this Act shall be charged against those authorized in the current and subsequent General
Appropriations Acts.

SECTION 21. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - Within thirty (30) days
from the effectivity of this Act, the Secretary of DSWD shall, in coordination with
appropriate government departments and agencies and with the participation of local
government units, promulgate the necessary rules and regulations to carry out the
provisions of this Act.

SECTION 22. Separability Clause. - If any provision or part of this Act is held
unconstitutional or invalid, the remaining parts of provisions not affected shall remain in
full force and effect.

SECTION 23. Repealing Clauses. - Any law, presidential decree or issuance,
executive order, letter of instruction, administrative order, rule or regulation contrary to or
inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, is hereby repealed, modified, or amended
accordingly.

SECTION 24. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.

Approved,