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SEVENTEENTH (17™) CONGRES!

Republic of the Philippin
HOUSE OF REPRESENTAT!
Constitution Hills, Quezon

First Regular Session

House Bill No. 5401

Introduced by REPRESENTATIVE ERIC L. OLIVAREZ

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Our present administration under President NoyNoy
Aquino has launched a very great project that aims to
eradicate extreme Poverty and hunger, achieve universal
primary education, promote gender equality, reduce child
mortality and improve maternal health, It seeks to alleviate the
immediate need (short term poverty alleviation) of the poor by
providing cash assistance and to break the intergenerational
Poverty cycle through investments in human capital.

This project is called Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino
Program, more popularly known as the “4Ps”. It is a human
development program of the national government that invests
in the health and education of poor households particularly of
children aged 0-14 years old. It is patterned after the


conditional cash transfer scheme implemented in other
developing countries.

The Pantawid Pamilya mainly provides cash grants to
beneficiaries provided that they comply with the set of
conditions required by the program. The households in the
municipalities are screened and the poorest among them are
selected based on certain proxy variables such as ownership of
assets, type of housing, education of the household head,
livelihood of the family and access to water and sanitation
facilities. After determining their eligibility, cash assistance is
regularly distributed to the registered member of a poor
household.

To date, Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program operates in
79 provinces covering 1484 municipalities and 143 key cities
in the entire country. The program has 3,927,917 registered
households all in all.

The 4Ps Program provides cash grants to the registered
households as follows:

* P6,000 a year or P500 per month per
household for health and nutrition
expenses; and

¢ P3,000 for one school year (10 months) or
P300/month per child for educational
expenses. A maximum of three children
per household is allowed.


¢ A household with three qualified children
receives a subsidy of P1,400/month
during the school year or P15,000
annually as long as they comply with the
conditions. The cash grants shall be
received by the most responsible person
in the household, usually the mother,
through a Land Bank cash card.

When it comes to the educational provisions, it is
noticeable though that the 4ps program only covers primary
education (meaning, preschool to high school) for children up
to 14 years of age, and provides a very budgeted stipend in the
amount of P300.00 per month for each child. While we truly
commend the efforts of our government to alleviate poverty
through this program, we also believe that such minimal
amount is barely sufficient to effectively afford destitute
children a decent and serious education.

We are not here to undermine this great project of the
government, instead, we are here to help the government
execute its program and achieve its objectives more efficiently
and effectively. This bill therefore seeks to allot automatic
additional financial assistance and scholarship grant to poor
but deserving students whose families are covered by the 4Ps
program.

enw 6. Or”,

ERIC L. OLIVAREZ


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Constitution Hills, Quezon City

SEVENTEENTH (17™) CONGRESS

First Regular Session

House Bill No» 401

C—e—

Introduced by REPRESENTATIVE ERIC L. OLIVAREZ

SS—S—

“AN ACT GRANTING AUTOMATIC ADDITIONAL FINANCIAL
ASSISTANCE AND SCHOLARSHIP GRANT TO CHILDREN
OF A HOUSEHOLD COVERED BY THE PANTAWID
PAMILYANG PIIPINO PROGRAM (4Ps)”

Section 1. Title. This Act shall be known as the “The
4Ps Automatic Scholarship Act of 2013”.

Section 2. Declaration of Policy. It is the policy of the
state to protect and promote the right of all citizens to quality
education at all levels, and shall take appropriate steps to
make such education accessible to all. Corollarily, the state
shall assign the highest budgetary priority to education.


Section 3. Definition of Terms.

Child — as referred to in this Act, a
child shall pertain to a person under
eighteen years old.

Household - pertains to one family
unit that is qualified to be beneficiaries of
the 4Ps Program.

4Ps Program - pertains to the
Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program
which is basically a human development
program of the national government that
invests in the health and education of
poor households.

Section 4. Additional Monthly Stipend. Every child
belonging to a family which is covered under the 4Ps Program
shall receive an additional monthly stipend of Three Hundred
Pesos (P300.00), provided he or she is enrolled in a school for
the period during which the stipend is to be distributed.

Section 5. Required Attendance. Every child who is
receiving additional financial aid and scholarship grants shall
be present at least 85% of the required school days.


Section 6. College Allowance. Every child or dependent
belonging to a family which is covered under the 4Ps Program
and who has finished high school and has enrolled in a college
or university under the regular load (units required per sem),
shall be given a monthly stipend of One Thousand Pesos
(P1000.00) in lieu of the Three Hundred Pesos (P300.00)
mentioned in Section 4 hereof. The stipend shall subsist for so
long as the child is enrolled, has attended at least 85% of the
required school days and has no delinquency records and no
dropped subjects.

Section 7. Vocational College Allowance. Every child
or dependent belonging to a family which is covered under the
4Ps Program and who has finished high school and has
enrolled in a vocational college or institution shall be given an
additional monthly stipend of Eight Hundred Pesos (P800.00)
in lieu of the Three Hundred Pesos (P300.00) mentioned in
Section 4 hereof. The stipend shall subsist for so long as the
child is enrolled in said vocational school, has attended at
least 85% of the required school days and has no delinquency
records.

Section 8. Scholarship Grants. Priority shall be given
to intelligent and deserving students whose families are
covered by the 4Ps Program with respect to available
Scholarship Grants from Local Government Units, third party
sponsors and other persons/individuals.


Section 9. Implementing Rules and Regulations. The
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) shall
promulgate the implementing rules and regulations for the
effective and immediate implementation of this Act.

SECTION 10. Repealing Clause. All laws, decrees,
executive orders, letters of instructions, rules and regulations
or parts thereof, which are inconsistent with this Act are
hereby repealed, amended or modified accordingly.

SECTION 11. Separability Clause. If any provision of
this Act is judicially declared invalid or unconstitutional, the
remaining provisions of this Act not affected thereby shall
continue to be in full force and effect.

SECTION 12. Effectivity Clause. This act shall take
effect fifteen (15) days following its publication in two (2)
newspapers of general circulation.

APPROVED.