Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
‘Quezon City, Philippines

SIXTEENTH CONGRESS:
Second Regular Sessi

HOUSE BILL NO.

INTRODUCED BY REP. MARCELINO “MARCY” R. TEODORO

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This proposed measure seeking to reduce poverty and promote human development through the
institutionalization of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) of the government, adopts the
bill of Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago filed on July 1, 2010.

The bill is in line with the provision of the Constitution in Article 2, Section 9 which provides that:

‘The State shall 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”

Based on the data gathered by the National Statistical Coordination Board in mid-2000, roughly
27. Million Filipinos or one-third (1/8) of the entire population are ooor. Thus in 2008, Department of
Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) was tasked to implement the Conditional Cash Transfer
(CCT) Program known as Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps} inspired by the successes of
similar programs in Latin American countries. CCT or 4Ps provides cash grants to extremely poor
Filipino households to allow their families to achieve certain human development goals

Since its inception, the program has already shown positive impacts on the lives of its
beneficiaries. The cash grants Increased the household incomes of the poor which in turn increase local
consumption for the good of micro enterprises. The program, likewise helped improve the heaith and
education of the children covered by 4Ps.

Indeed, institutionalizing the Pantawid Pemilyang Pilipino Program will greatly help in the
redistribution of the wealth, and in minimizing the prevailing income inequality in our society. Thus, the
passage of this billis earnestly sought,

REP. MARCELINO “MARCY” R. TEODORO
+ District, Marikina City


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Philippines

SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
Second Regular Session

HOUSE BILLNo,_5390

INTRODUCED BY REP. MARCELINO “MARCY” R. TEODORO

AN ACT
TO REDUCE POVERTY AND PROMOTE HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT THROUGH THE CREATION OF
ANATIONAL CONDITIONAL FUND TRANSFER PROGRAM

Be it enacted by the Senate and the 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 of
2015."

SECTION 2, Declaration of Policy - It shall be the policy of the State

(A) To provide 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 and
improve quality of life

(8) To give priority to education and health of children, accelerate social progress and promote total
human liberation and development.

(C) To protect the life of mothers and their children

(D) To promote gender equality and empower women.

SECTION 3. Definition of terms. - As used in this Act, the term -

(A) The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) shall refer to the national poverty reduction strategy
that provides conditional cash transfer to extremely poor households to improve their health, nutrition
and education particularly of children aged 0-14.

(B) "Beneficiaries" refer to poor households with pregnant women and/or with children 0-14 year old
selected by the Department of Social Welfare and Development to be a part of the program through
the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTSPR).

(C) "Department" shall refer to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) which is the
lead and executing agency in the implementation of this program

(D) "Small Area Poverty Estimate" refers to a statistical tool and methodology of generating estimates of
poverty incidence by combining survey and census data at lower levels of geographic disaggregation
(cities and municipalities) utilized by the National Census and Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB).

(E) "Extremely Poor" or "food poor” refers to a person whose income or other resources falls short of
enabling him to provide for even just his nutritional requirements, as 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.

(F) "Poor' refers to a person whose income is sufficient to provide for his nutritional needs but falls short of
‘enabling him to provide for his other basic necessities such as clothing, shelter, health and education,
as 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.


SECTION 4. Objective of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).-The Pantawid Pamilyang
Pilipino Programs (4Ps) aims to:

(A) Reduce extreme hunger and poverty.
(B) Achieve universal primary education.

(C) Promote gender equality and empowerment of women,
(0) Reduce child mortality

(€) Improve maternal health

SECTION 5, Construction-This law shall be liberally construed in favor of attainment of its objectives,

SECTION 6. Selection of Areas of Implementation. - The following guidelines shall be followed in the
selection of areas of implementation:

(A) In the selection of target areas, priority is given to the poorest municipalities as determined by Small
Area Poverty Estimates generated by the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB)

(8) Priority shall also be given to cities with large pockets of poverty as reported by the National Anti-
Poverty Commission (NAPC) andior the Presidential Commission on Urban Poor (PCUP) and or
National Census and Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB),

SECTION 7, Eligible Households - For @ household to qualify as beneficlary for this program it must meet
the following requirements

1. The household is within the municipality or city identified as area of implementation,

2. The household has at least one (1) 0-14 year old child and for a pregnant woman at the time of
registration.

3. The household suffers from chronic poverty and falls within the priority ranking as determined by the
National Household Targeting System (NHTS) of the DSWD which involves rigorous household
assessment and application of @ Proxy Means Test, a tool used to estimate the income of
households on the basis proxy variables including of household composition, education, socio-
economic characteristic, housing conditions, access to basic services, assets, tenure status and
regional variables. The DSWD and all national goverment agencies shall use the NHTS for
identifying and prioritizing beneficiaries for the 4 Ps as well as other social services.

SECTION 8. Program Conditions. - All beneficiaries shall comply with the following conditions as a
requirement for continued program eligibility
(A) Children 0-5 years of age must get regular preventive health check-ups and vaccines based on the
Department of Health (DOH) protocol
(B) Children 3-5 years of age must enroll in day care program or pre-school and attend at least eighty five
percent (85%) of the required school days:
(C) Children 6-14 years of age must be enroll in school and attend at least eighty five percent (85%) of
the required school days. They must also undergo deworming at least twice a year.
(0) Pregnant women must get at least (3) pre-natal check-up starting from the first trimester, get post
natal care and the childbirth must be attended by a skilled/trained health personnel
{E) Parents/ guardians must attend and complete responsible parenthood seminars and parenting
education sessions

Failure to comply with the conditionalities warrants the suspension and/or removal of the beneficiary from
the program,

‘SECTION 9. Grant Rates. - The following amounts shall be released to qualified beneficiaries:

(A) The health grant beneficiaryifamily shall receive five hundred pesos (P500) per month per household or @ total
of six thousand pesos (P6 000.00) per year;


(8) The education grant beneficiaries, the 3-14 year old children enrolled at the day care program, pre-school,
elementary school or high school shall receive three hundred pesos (P300.00) per month for the ten ([O)
month school year or a total of three thousand pesos (P3,000.00) in @ year with a maximum ofthree (3)
children per household;

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

SECTION 10. Grievance Redress System- The Department shall develop a Grievance Redress System that will
address complaints regarding the implementation of this program.

SECTION 11. Inter-Agency Council- There shall be a National Inter-Agency Council for the implementation of the
Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) composed of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) as
Chair and the Department of Health (DOH), Department of Education (DepEd), Department of Interior and Local
Government (DILG), National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) and National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) as
members.

SECTION 12. Functions of the Inter-Agency Counci-The Counecl as a collegial body shall have following functions:

(A) Formulate policies forthe program
(B) Oversee the implementation ofthe program

SECTION 13, Implementing Rules and Regulations, - The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)
is hereby designated as the executing agency for this Project. It is authorized to enter Into agreements or cooperation with
development agencies, both national and international for financing and technical, as well as program support for this
program, The Department together with the members ofthe Inter-Agency Council as well as other relevant agencies that the
Department may involve, shall draft the Implementing Rules and Regulations for the Implementation of this law within One
Hundred Twenty (120) days from the enactment ofthis law

SECTION 14, Appropriation. - The amount equivalent to not less than three (3%) of approved budget in the
General Appropriation Act is hereby automaticaly appropriated to cover approximately sixty percent (60%) of the total poor
families in the Philippines.

The amount appropriated shall be automatically increased to maintain the participation of sixty percent (60%) of the
total poor families should they increase from the 4.7 Milion families currently estimated,

The appropriation shall continue for atleast ten (10) years from the enactment of this Act. The appropriation shall be
included in the annual appropriation of the OSWD.

SECTION 15, Separablity Clause. - If any provision, or part hereof is held invalid or unconstitutional, the remainder
‘of the law or the provision not otherwise affected shall remain valid and subsisting,

SECTION 16, 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.

SECTION 47, Effectivty Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in at least two (2)
newspapers of general circulation

Approved