REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
House of Representatives
Quezon City

16" Congress
3-4 Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 62 36

Introduced by Congressman Alfredo D. Vargas Ill

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

As part of the country’s Millenium Development Goals (MDGs), the Philippines aims to
eradicate extreme hunger and poverty by the end of 2015. There are only a number of days left in
2015 but the country’s poverty situation is still far from its eradication target. Worse, the poverty
incidence is going upwards. In the first half of 2014, the poverty incidence among Filipino
individuals rose from 24.6 percent in 2013 to 25.8 percent.

The conditional cash transfer program, more popularly known as the Pantawid Pamilyang
Pilipino Program (4Ps) is the centerpiece of the Philippine Government's quest for poverty
reduction and social development. With the goal of breaking the intergenerational poverty cycle,
the program provides financial support to poor households so they can invest on their children’s
‘education and health.

In 2013, the World Bank reported that the 4Ps is reaching most of its key objectives. The
study found that the program helps in keeping poor children in school by increasing enrolment and
school attendance among children aged 3-17 years old. The 4Ps is also meeting its objective of
keeping poor children healthy as it enables parents to provide better care for their children. Indeed,
the program holds much promise in addressing chronic poverty and meeting the MDGs.

To further strengthen the program and ensure its success, this bill seeks to institutionalize
the implementation of the conditional cash transfer program. It formally lists the criteria of eligible
beneficiaries, the program grants and their corresponding conditionalities. It also enumerates the
instances for termination of grant.

The proposed act also mandates the Department of Social Welfare and Development, the
Department of Health, and the Department of Education to monitor the program and conduct
evaluation to assess its effectiveness.

The bill also institutionalizes the funding of the program in the General Appropriations Act.

In view of the foregoing, passage of this measure is earnestly soyeht.
D. oa


REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
House of Representatives
Quezon City

16" Congress
3 Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 6236

Introduced by Congressman Alfredo D. Vargas III

AN ACT
TO REDUCE POVERTY AND PROMOTE HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT BY
INSTITUTIONALIZING A CONDITIONAL CASH TRANSFER PROGRAM

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

SECTION 1. Title . - This Act shall be known as the “Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino
Program Act of 2015”.

Sec. 2. Declaration of Policy. - It is the declared policy of the State to promote the
development of human capital among Filipino families, especially on young children.
Towards this end, interventions necessary to break the inter-generational cycle of poverty
among poor households caused by low schooling and high malnutrition rate must be set in
place,

Sec. 3. Objectives. - Pursuant to the government’s commitment to promote inclusive
growth and provide social assistance and development to its citizens, this Act aims to:

a. Improve the health care of pregnant women and young children;
b. Increase enrolment and/or attendance of children in elementary and
secondary levels;
Reduce incidences of child labor;
|. Improve maternal health;
. Encourage parents to invest on their own and their children’s future, and
Encourage parents’ participation in the growth and development of
young children, as well as involvement in the community.

mean

Sec. 4. Eligible Beneficiaries. - To be eligible for the cash grants, households must
meet the following criteria.


a. Belong to the extremely poor household classification as defined by the
poverty threshold of the municipality/province based on the issuance of
the National Statistic and Coordination Board (NSCB) at the time of
selection.

b. Have members who are age 0 to 18 years old, or a member who is
pregnant at the time of registration into the program.

Once eligible beneficiaries are defined, the beneficiary households are selected
through the use of the Proxy Means Test (PMT) from the information gathered in a
Household Survey Assessment Tool to be conducted by the Department of Social
Welfare and Development (DSWD).

A Mediation Committee composed of representatives of a Local Government Unit
(LGU) concerned and the DSWD will be set up in the event of disputes on the
inclusion or exclusion of eligible household on the list of beneficiaries.

Sec. 5. Program Grants. - Selected beneficiaries households shall receive cash grants
for at least one of two components: health /nutrition and/or education.

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 beneficiary household, The health grant is a fixed amount
and does not depend on the number of members in the household.

The education grant component is given to a maximum of three children in the
beneficiary household, aged 3 to 18 years old. In the event that the child is already
above 18 years old, but is enrolled in or still wishes to continue his/her elementary
or secondary education, he/she shall be provided with the education grant until
senior high school is completed.

The amount for each component shall be determined by the DSWD, in consultation
with the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), taking into account the
current needs for health and education.

These grants are to be released on a quarterly basis to the beneficiary households
for the duration of their participation in the program, subject to their compliance
with the program conditionalities provided under Section 6 of this Act.


Sec. 6. Program Conditionalities. - Beneficiary households must comply with specific
health and education conditionalities in order to continue receiving the cash grants
provided in Section 5 of this Act.

To continue availing of the grants, the following requirements must be met:

a. Children who receive education grants must be enrolled in a day
care/pre-school program, elementary or secondary school and maintain a
class attendance rate of 85 percent per month;

b. Children aged 0 to 6 years old must visit health centers to avail of health
services prescribed by the Department of Health (DOH).

¢. Children aged 6 years old and above must take de-worming pills twice a
year in schools.

d. Pregnant women must have at least one pre-natal consultation each
trimester during the pregnancy and delivery and must be assisted by
skilled health personnel.

e. All household grantees must attend Family Development Sessions (FDS)
at least once a month, and parents must render twelve hours of
community service each month.

Sec. 7. Forfeiture of Grant. - The payment of cash grants will be terminated upon the
following instances.

a. A beneficiary household no longer meets the eligibility criteria provided
in Section 4 of this Act.
b. Non-compliance with the conditions set forth in Section 6 of this Act.

Ifa beneficiary household is found to be non-compliant with the conditionalities in a
particular month, the cash grant will not be paid for that month. However, third
offense of non-compliance will result to termination of payments and temporary
suspension from the program.

Sec. 8. Additional Prohibitions. ~ Pawning of the ATM card (by which the cash grants
are received) by a beneficiary to another individual is prohibited. Upon verification, the
DSWD shall stop payment of cash grant for the month that the ATM card was pawned.

Sec. 9. Program Monitoring and Evaluation. - The DSWD together with the DOH and
the Department of Education (DepEd) shall conduct 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 DSWD shall furnish a copy of the results of the study to Congress.

Sec. 10. Grievance Redress System. - The DSWD shall develop a Grievance Redress
System that will address complaints regarding the implementation of the program.

Sec. 11. Appropriations. - The funds necessary for the full implementation of this
Act shall be annually appropriated in the budget of the DSWD under the General
Appropriations Act (GAA).

Sec. 12. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - The lead implementing agency,
DSWD, in consultation with the DOH, DepEd, and the Department of the Interior and Local
Government (DILG), shall, within ninety (90) days from the effectivity of this Act, formulate
and promulgate the rules and regulations which shall guide the program's implementation
and carry out the provisions of this Act.

Sec. 13. Separability Clause. - If for any reason, any provision of this Act or any part
thereof shall be unconstitutional and invalid, the other parts or provisions of this Act,

which are not affected thereby, shall remain in full force and effect.

Sec. 14. Repealing Clause. - All laws, decrees, resolution, orders ordinances or parts
thereof inconsistent with this Act, are hereby repealed, amended or modified accordingly.

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

Approved,