Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
Second Regular Session

House Bill No._6349.

Introduced by REP. LENI ROBREDO, REP. KAKA BAG-AO
REP. BOLET BANAL, REP. TEDDY BAGUILAT, JR.,
and REP. SITTI DJALIA TURABIN-HATAMAN

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Constitution mandates the State to enact policies that will free the people from
poverty by providing social services that will raise the standard of living of every
Filipino and improve their quality of life. This merits a complete and concrete policy
wherein the basic needs of each person, especially those in the fringes of our society,
are met. A long lasting system needs to be instituted in order to assure continued
development of the poorest citizens whom we must serve

In 2010, the DSWD started the Pantawid Pamilya Pilipino Program (4Ps) which
aimed to augment the income of the poorest of the poor in our society. Its principle is
to invest heavily in our people in order to ensure the country’s continued growth and
welfare. More importantly, the 4Ps is a culture-building mechanism which will
impart the values of education and health to its beneficiaries. It puts a premium to
education, by requiring their children to attend basic education as a condition for
inclusion in the program. In addition, the program requires its beneficiaries to
undergo regular check-ups and medical procedures to guarantee effective delivery of
health services,

From its ineeption, the 4Ps has grown to encompass 17 regions in the Philippines,
covering 79 provinces, 143 cities, and 1,484 municipalities. In total, the program
currently has 4,353,597 active household-beneficiaries, 570,056 of which are
indigenous households, and 217,359 have at least one differently-abled person. Since
the implementation of the program, more and more mothers gave birth in health
facilities in the past five years, with 7 in 10 live births among Pantawid Pamilya
mothers compared to 5.5 in 10 births among non-beneficiaries. Gross enrollment
rate for high school children (12-15 years old) is higher (95%) for Pantawid Pamilya
children living near the poverty threshold before it the program was established


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AMIN Partylist


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
Third Regular Session

Introduced by REP. LENI ROBREDO, REP. KAKA BAG-AO,
REP. BOLET BANAL, REP. TEDDY BAGUILAT, JR.,
and REP. SITTI DJALIA TURABIN-HATAMAN,

AN ACT
INSTITUTING A NATIONWIDE CONDITIONAL CASH TRANSFER
PROGRAM OUTLINING ITS POLICIES, FRAMEWORK, STRUCTURE,
PROVIDING FUNDS THEREFOR AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

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

Section 1. Short Title. This Act shall be known as the “Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino
Act of 2015.”

Section 2. Declaration of Policy. It is hereby declared policy of the State to ensure
that families who are in most need shall be cared for not only through government
programs but also through government financial assistance. Likewise, the State shall
promote an atmosphere where the indigent families’ educational and health needs are
monitored and cared for. Furthermore, State shall institute policies that provide
adequate social services, a rising standard of living, and an improved quality of life for
all pursuant to Article IT, Section 9 of the Constitution.

Section 3. Definition of Terms. As used in this Act, the following terms shall be
defined as follows:

a. Child refers to a minor aged 0-18 who belongs to the qualified family-beneficiary;

b. Department refers to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the
Iead agency that will implement the Program defined in this Act;

c. Family-Beneficiary refers to a family identified by the Department as entitled to benefit
from the Conditional Cash Transfer Program; and

d. Poor refers to families whose income falls under the poverty threshold defined by the
National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) and/or families that cannot afford
to provide the basic human needs of food, health, education, shelter, and other necessary
requisites for a decent life.


Section 4. Conditional Cash Transfer Program. There is hereby established a
Conditional Cash Transfer Program, hereinafter referred to as Program, under the
Department. The said Program shall have to following objectives:

a. Social Assistance — The Program shall be geared toward alleviating poverty by
giving financial support to extremely poor families to respond to their essential
needs.

b. Social Development — The Program shall also aim toward the development and
health of poor children through the conditions set in Section 6 of this Act.

Section 5. Coverage. The Department, in coordination with the Advisory Council,
shall create and update a list of potential family-beneficiaries through the efforts of its
National Household Targeting Office (NHTO).

Eligible family-beneficiaries shall be selected using the following criteria:

a, Families whose economic condition is equal to or below the provincial poverty
threshold;

b. Families that have children 0-18 years old and/or have a pregnant woman at the
time of assessment,

c. Families from the poorest municipalities in the country as identified by the latest
Small Area Estimates (SAE) of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA);
Provided, that municipalities that do not fall under the said category may still be
considered in the deliberations of the Department and the Advisory Council after
giving due priority to the poorest municipalities.

The Department, in consultation with the Advisory Council as defined in Section 7 of
this Act, may add to the aforementioned criteria through the Implementing Rules and
Regulations of this Act.

If necessary, a different set of criteria and conditions shall be formulated by the
Department in consultation with the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples
(NCIP) for family-beneficiaries belonging to indigenous peoples and communities.

The National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) will be
subject to review by the Department every two (2) years after approval of this Act.

Section 6. Lead Agency. The Department shall serve as the lead agency in the
planning, coordinating, and implementing and monitoring the program. It shall have
the following functions:

a. Devise and implement an appropriate, effective, and cost-efficient method for
identifying and selecting qualified family beneficiaries;

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


c. Conduct seminar-workshops and training programs in order to ensure qualified
family-beneficiary awareness and appreciation of the conditions and other
actions related to this Act,

d. Coordinate with different national and local agencies, including civil society, non-
government, and private sector organizations, to ensure communication and
partnership, which shall assist in the success of the implementation of the
Program;

e. Set up monitoring and evaluation systems and methodologies on compliance of
conditions, implementation of operations, and output and impact assessments;

f Recommend to the President measures and policies for the responsive
implementation of the commitments under this Act;

g. 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;

j. Implement measures for information and transparency in order to raise the
awareness of the family-beneficiaries and the general public about the funds used
and activities initiated by the Program; and

k. Perform such other functions as may be necessary or incidental to this Act.

Section 7. Advisory Council. An Advisory Council shall be created at the municipal,
regional and national levels to be headed by the National Anti-Poverty Commission
(NAPC) and may be composed of representatives from the Department of Social Welfare
and Development (DSWD), Department of Education (DepEd), Department of Health
(DOH), Philippine Health’ Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), Department of the
Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Trade and Industry (DTD,
Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), Department of Labor
and Employment (DOLE), National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP),
National Youth Commission (NYC), and accredited non-government organizations, as
members. The Advisory Council is principally tasked to coordinate with the Department
in the monitoring and assessment of the program.

Section 8. Cash Subsidy. Upon identification by the NHTS-PR of families eligible for
the Program, the Department shall give the following Cash Subsidies:

a. Health and Nutrition Subsidy — A minimum of Five Hundred Pesos (PhP 500.00)
for each family per month or a total of not Jess than Six Thousand Pesos (PhP
6,000.00) per year.

b. Educational Subsidy — A minimum of Three Hundred Pesos (PhP 300.00) for
every child every month for ten (10) months or a total of not less than Three
Thousand Pesos (PhP 3,000.00) for every child per year, Provided, that each
family may only register a maximum of three (3) children

Section 9. Compliance of Families, In order to be eligible for Cash Subsidy,
families should meet the following conditions:


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a. Pregnant women must avail pre- and post-natal care, and be attended during
childbirth by a trained professional;

b. Parents or guardians must attend the family development sessions, which include
topics on responsible parenting, health, and nutrition;

c. Children aged 0-5 years must receive regular preventive health check-ups and
vaccines;

d. Children aged 6-14 years must receive deworming pills twice a year; and

e. Children-beneficiaries aged 3-18 years must enroll in school, and maintain an
attendance of at least 85% of class days every month.

f Children who are enrolled in high school must attend youth development
sessions conducted by the Department in partnership with the National Youth
Commission (NYC).

‘The Department may add to these conditions through a Memorandum Order. It shall
also create a system to ensure that all families meet these conditions before receiving
Cash Subsidy as contained in Section 8 of this Act.

Section 10. Failure to Comply with the Program Conditions. A family-
beneficiary that fails to comply with the conditions of the Program shall be given a
warning through a written notification directed to the head of the family or any
responsible person. The Department must also task any of its personnel connected with
the Program to communicate with the family-beneficiary concerned in order to
determine the reasons for their non-compliance and, if necessary, to explain once again
the rationale of the Program.

After receiving the written notice and after Department personnel have communicated
with the family-beneficiary, if non-compliance persists, the benefits under this Act may
be suspended

Cancellation of benefits can also be carried out if the notified family-beneficiary
continues to fail to comply for a duration of one (1) year.

Section 11. Regular Evaluation of Cash Subsidy Disbursement. The amounts
enumerated in Section 5 of this Act shall be made available to the qualified family-
beneficiaries within the first two (2) years of implementation and may undergo
reasonable adjustments as ordered by the President upon the recommendation of the
Advisory Council in accordance to inflation rates and other economic indicators.

Section 12. Report of the Program. The Department shall, annually, publish a full
report of the Program for the previous fiscal year. The said report shall include financial
disclosures, number of families included in the Program, and a recommendations to the
President of the Philippines and Congress on how to further enhance the Program. The
President and both Houses of Congress shall be furnished copies of this report annually
before budget deliberations


Section 13. Program Transparency. The amounts of Cash Subsidy disbursed to
family-beneficiaries shall be organized into a report that will be regularly posted and
updated whenever possible in the Department website and other related online sources,
such as the Open Data Philippines website. Information should also be broken down by
geographic areas and other social, economic, and cultural circumstances. Further, a
summary of the report written in plain English, Filipino, and other major national
languages should also be included in the online publication of information.

Section 14. Appropriations. The amount necessary for the Program shall be
included in the annual budget allocation of the Department as provided in the General
Appropriations Act.

Section 15. Implementing Rules and Regulations. The Department shalll create
and publish Implementing Rules and Regulations with in ninety (90) days of approval of
this Act.

Section 16. Separability Clause. If any provision of this Act is declared invalid or
unconstitutional, the other provisions not affected thereby shall remain valid and
subsisting

Section 17. Repealing Clause. All laws, presidential decrees, executive orders,
proclamations and/or administrative regulations, which are inconsistent with the
provisions of this Act are hereby amended, modified, superseded or repealed
accordingly

Section 18. Effectivity Clause. This Act shall take effect fifteen days after its
publication in the Official Gazette or at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation.