Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
Third Regular Session

House Bill No. 6305 _

Introduced by Representative Estrellita “Ging” B. Suansing

The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program is more than just a cash grant
program. It breaks the intergenerational poverty cycle through investments in
human capital. Furthermore, the program will help the government meet its
Millennium Development Goals, namely: (1) Eradicate Extreme Poverty and
Hunger, (2) Achieve Universal Primary Education, (3) Promote Gender Equality,
(4) Reduce Child Mortality, and (5) Improve Maternal Health.

A World Bank panel of economists, convened in 2009 to assess
conditional cash transfers in Latin America, noted a substantial decline in
poverty incidence in poverty incidence in program participants. Another
observation among the participants is the encouragement of good health and
education practices among the family. The same have been observed among the
pilot beneficiaries of the 4Ps program.

Given the success of this Program to reach out to the poor, there is a
need to ensure sustainability through an enacted policy.

Hence, the passage of this bill is earnestly sought.

1* District, Nueva Ecij


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Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
Third Regular Session

House Bill No. 6305

Introduced by Representative Estrellita “Ging” B. Suansing

AN ACT
INSTITUTIONALIZING THE CONDITIONAL CASH TRANSFER PROGRAM OF
THE GOVERNMENT 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 Act.

SEC. 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 weak and underprivileged,
especially the poor households; thus, the State hereby declares it a policy to:

a. Provide assistance to the poor to alleviate their immediate needs (short-term
social assistance);

b. Break the intergenerational cycle of poverty through investment in human
capital and improved delivery of basic needs to the poor, particularly education,
health, and nutrition (long-term social development);

c. Promote gender equality and empowerment of women;

d. Achieve universal primary education;

e. Reduce child mortality; and

f, Improve maternal health.

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

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

aged 18 years and below;


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

In this Act, the poor shall be identified using the National Household
‘Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR);
National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) refers
to a system for identifying who and where the poor households are through the
generation of socio-economic database of poor households adopted by the national
government agencies and being implemented by the Department;

4. Department refers to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)
which is the lead agency in the implementation of the Program;

€. Qualified Household-Beneficiaries refer to households identified by the
Department for entitlement of the monthly conditional cash transfer, with children
ages below 18 years or who may have members who are pregnant;

f. Child refers to a minor belonging to the qualified household-beneficiary aged below
18 years;

g. Responsible Person refers to the parent or guardian in the qualified household-
beneficiary;

h. Grantee refers to the most responsible adult member fo the qualified household
beneficiary authorized to withdraw or receive the conditional cash transfer;

i, Conditional Cash Transfer refers to the amount being received by the qualified
household-beneficiaries in fulfilment of their co-responsibilities;

j. Indigenous Peoples refer to groups of people identified by self-ascription and

ascription of others who have incessantly lived as organized community on
communally bounded and defined territory, and who have under claims of
ownership, since time immemorial, occupied, possessed and utilized such
territories, sharing common bonds of language, through resistance to political,
social and cultural inroads of colonization, non-indigenous religions and culture,
became historically differentiated from the majority of the Filipinos;

k. Preventive Health Check-up refers to health services comprising of complete
immunization, de-worming, weight monitoring and management of childhood
diseases;

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

m. Compliance Verification refers to the checking and monitoring to ensure that the

ities set forth by the

qualified household-beneficiaries fulfill their co-responsil
Program;

n. Grievance Redress System refers to the mechanism of the Department which
addresses and resolves issues and concerns related to the implementation of the
Program.

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SEC. 4. Selection of Qualified Household-Beneficiaries. - On a nationwide basis, the
Department and the Health Service Providers shall select qualified household-beneficiaries
using the NHTS-PR. The following geographic criteria shall also be the basis in the selecion
of qualified household-beneficiaries:

a. Areas with high vulnerability to natural and man-made calamities, such as but not
limited to, flooding, typhoon, tsunami, earthquake, vulcanic eruption,a dn drought
as declared by the local risk reduction and management council and/or appropriate
agencies; and

b. Areas with very high magnitude of vulnerable individuals, families or households in
need of special protection, such as but not limited to, indigenous peoples, street
families, persons with disabilities, and internally displaces persons as declared by

the regional, provincial, or local government units.

SEC. 5. Local Verification Committee. - A Local Verification Committee shall be created in
every municipality or city composed of three (3) local government unit representatives, an
accredited health service provider from the barangay, a representative of an accredited
civil society organization, and the municipal superintendent of the Department of
Education.

This Committee shall be tasked to ensure that the initial list of beneficiaries
satisfies the eligibility requirements set forth under this Act. Further, it shall be tasked to
ensure the household-beneficiaries’ compliance with the conditions set forth in Section 7
of this Act.

SEC. 6, Conditional Cash Transfer. - Subject to certain conditions, each qualified
household-beneficiary shall receive a conditional cash transfer equivalent ot Five Hundred
Pesos (Php 500.00) per month for health and nutrition expenses or the equivalent of Six
‘Thousand Pesos (Php 6,000.00) per qualified household-beneficiary per year, and an
additional Three Hundred Pesos (Php 300.00) per month per child for educational
expenses or the equivalent of Three Thousand Pesos (Php 3,000.00) per a 10-month school
year. A maximum of three (3) children per qualified household beneficiary shall be allowed.

A supplementary education grant of Three Thousand Pesos (Php 3,000.00) per
month shall be given to the child who has maintained passing grades in all subjects after
the first year of implementation of the Program.

SEC. 7. Conditions for Entitlement. - All qualified household-beneficiaries shall comply
with the following conditions as a requirement for continued program eligibility:


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d, Children 3 to 5 years old must attend day care or pre-school classes at least eighty-
five (85%) of the time;

€. Children 6 to below 18 years of old must attend the elementary or high school
classes at least eighty-five percent (85%) of the time;

f Children 6 to below 18 years old must avail of de-worming pills at least twice a
year;

g. At least one responsible person must join and complete at least two (2) government
recognized and/or accredited NGO-sponsored entrepreneurship or livelihood
training programs;

h, At least one responsible person must maintain cleanliness in the surroundings and
practive proper garbage disposal;

i, At least one responsible person must plant trees in their surroundings; and

j. At least one responsible person must assist, help or participate in bayanihan
projects in their respective barangay or municipality.

SEC. 8. Mode of Cash Transfer. - The conditional cash transfer shall be released by the
Department and 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
identified by the Department using different appropriate payment modes, such as but not
limited to, cash card, over-the-counter, money remittance services, conduit rural banks,
and cooperatives.

SEC. 9. Non-Compliance with Conditions. - The responsible person of a reported qualified
household-beneficiary who fails to comply with the conditions set forth in Section 7 shall
at first be notified in writing. If, despite due notice, the qualified household-beneficiary
continues with non-compliance, the benefits under this Act may be suspended.

Should the qualified household-beneficiary so notified persist in their failure to
comply as directed, the cash transfer shall be cancelled after one year of non-compliance.

SEC. 10. Periodic Assessment of Cash Transfer. - The amounts indicated in Section 6 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
Presidents, if necessary, upon recommendation by the Department, after taking into

account the rates of inflation and similar economic indicators.

SEC. 11. Loan Assistance. - Responsible persons who successfully completed the
entrepreneurship or livelihood programs required under Section 7 shall be given loan
assistance without interest to serve as their initial capital through the sustained livelihood

program of the government.

SEC. 12. Five-year Maximum Limit. - Each qualified household-beneficiary shall receive
the conditional cash transfer for a maximum period of five (5) years.

SEC. 13. Lead Agency. - The Department shall serve as the central planning,
coordinating, implementing and monitoring body of the Program.

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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 houschold-beneficiaries on the basis of a uniform,
objective and transparent election 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 effect convergence towards the full implementation of statutory
commitments herein;

¢. 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 Local Verification Committee at the national, regional
and municipal levels to verify compliance over a month using the monitoring and
evaluation systems designed for the purpose;

f. Coordinate with the Advisory Council to 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;

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

Submit an annual report to the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee
including, but not limited to, all aspects of its operations, financial status and other
relevant data; and

Perform such other functions as may be necessary or incidental to the proper
enforcement of the statutory commitments under this Act.

SEC. 14. Grievance Committee. - A Grievance Committee shall likewise be created at the
municipal, regional and national levels, headed by the Department and may be composed
of the municipal superintendent of the Department of Education, three representatives of
the local government unit concerned, an accredited health service provider from the
barangay, and a representative of an accredited civil society organization, as members.

The Grievance Committee is principally tasked to accept complaints and grievances
that may arise within their respective territorial jurisdictions, conduct investigation in
specific cases and dispose cases filed in connection thereto.

SEC, 15. Advisory Council. - An advisory council shall be created at the municipal,
regional and national levels to be headed by the National Anti-Poverty Commission and
may be composed of representatives from the Department of Social Welfare and
Development, Department of Education, Department of Health, Philippine Health
Insurance Corporation, Department of Interior and Local Government, Department of

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Trade and Industry, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, Department
of Labor and Employment, the local government unit concerned, and accredited NGOs, as

members.

The Advisory Council is principally tasked to make policy recommendations
towards the improvement of the program.

SEC. 16. 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
of 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 guidelines and 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.

SEC. 17. Independent Monitoring Committee. - An Independent Monitoring Committee at
the municipal, regional and national levels composed of representatives from the private

sector and civil society organizations shall be created.

‘The Independent Monitoring Committee is principally tasked to complement the
monitoring activities of the Department 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 Joint Congressional Oversight Committee.

SEC. 18. Convergence of Programs and Services. - To ensure that the qualified household-
beneficiaries graduate and remain non-poor after the prescribed maximum limit for receipt
of the conditional cash transfer, multi-stakeholder and inter-agency convergence of
programs and services shall be observed. This shall focus on the enhancement of
operational efficiency and strengthening of inter-agency partnerships for greater impact
and sustainability outcomes.

SEC, 19. Penalty. - Any person, public or private, whether acting in conspiracy with
public officials, who, by act or omission, inserts or allows the insertion of data or false
information or who diverts from what ought to be found in the registry, with the view of
altering the fact, or aiding in the grant of money to persons other than the qualified
household-beneficiaries, shall be penalized with imprisonment of not less than one (1)
month but not more than six (6) months, or a fine of not less than Ten Thousand Pesos
(Php10,000.00) but not more than Twenty Thousand Pesos (Php20,000.00), or both

imprisonment and fine at the discretion of the court.

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Administrative sanctions shall be without prejudice to prosecution in the proper

courts.

SEC. 20. Appropriations. - The Secretary of Social Welfare and Development shall include
in the Department's program the implementation of this Act, the initial funding of which
shall be charged against the current year’s appropriations of the Pantawid Pamilyang
Pilipino Program (4Ps). Thereafter, the amount necessary for its continued implementation
shalll be included in the annual General Appropriations Act.

SEC, 21. Separability Clause. - If any provision or part of this Act is held unconstitutional
or invalid, the remaining parts or provisions not affected shall remain in full force and
effect.

SEC. 22. Repealing Clause. - 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.

SEC. 23. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in the
Official Gazette or in at least two (2) national newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,