SIXTEENTH CONGRESS )
OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES Pi
First Regular Session )

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

House BiliNo,__15

Introduced by Representative Susan A. Yap

EXPLANATORY NOTE

As of March 2013 the Pantawid Pamilya is being implemented in 143 cities and 1,484
municipalities in 79 provinces where a total of 3,967,517 households are enrolled exceeding the
target of 3,809,769 for 2013. OF the total households, 1,636,879 come from Luzon, while 1,519,518
and 811,120 are from Mindanao and Visayas, respectively

The total cash grant paid to eligible and compliant Pantawid Pamilya household beneficiaries
for the first petiod of 2013 covering January and February total to PhP 6,908,317,600.00. OF this
amount, PhP3,729,952,600.00 was for education and PhP 3,178,365,000.00 for health,

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
wil help the government meet its Millennium Development Goals, namely: (1) Bradicate Extreme
Poverty and Hunger, (2) Achieve Universal Primary Education, (3) Promote Gender Equality, (4)
Reduce Child Mortality, and (5) Improve Maternal Health. (4Ps DSWD, 2010)

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 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 bills earnestly sought.

Representative, Secon


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SIXTEENTH CONGRESS )
OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES )
First Regular Session )
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

House Bill No._154

Introduced by Representative Susan A. Yap

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”.

SECTION 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 under-privileged, especially
the poor households; thus, the State hereby declares it a policy to:

(@) 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 services to the poor, particularly education, health and nutrition (long-term
social development);

(©) Promote gender equality and empowerment of women;
(@ Achieve universal primary education;

(©) Reduce child mortality; and

(f Improve maternal health.

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

@) Program refers to the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (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 below 18 years;

() Poor refers to houscholds 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 Houschold Targeting System for
Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR);


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(©) 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 houscholds adopted by the national government agencies and being
implemented by the Department;

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

(© Qualified Houschold-Beneficiaries refer to households identified by the Department for
entitlement of the monthly conditional cash transfer, with children aged below 18 years or who may have
members who are pregnant,

(@ Child refers to a minor belonging to the qualified houschold-beneficiary aged below 18
years;

(@) Responsible Person refers to the parent or guardian in the qualified household-beneficiary;

() Grantee refers to the most responsible adult member of the qualified household-beneficiary
authorized to withdraw or receive the conditional cash transfer;

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

@ 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,

(&) Preventive Health Check Up scfers to health services comprising of complete
immunization, deworming, weight monitoring and management of childhood diseases;

@ 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
qualified household-beneficiaries fulfill their co-responsibilities set forth by the program;

(2) Grievance Redress System refers to the mechanism of the Department which addresses
and resolves issues and concerns related to the implementation of the Program;

SECTION 4. Selection of Qualified Houschold-Beneficiaries. - On a nation-wide 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 selection of qualified
household-beneficiaries:

(@) Areas with high vulnerability to natural and man-made calamities, such as but not limited to,
flooding, typhoon, tsunami, earthquake, volcanic eruption, and 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 displaced persons as declared by the regional provincial or local government units.

SECTION 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 ah 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 houschold-beneficiaries’
compliance with conditionalities set forth in Section 7 of this Act.


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SECTION 6. Conditional Cash Transfer. - Subject to certain conditions, each qualified
houschold-beneficiary shall receive a conditional cash transfer equivalent to Five Hundred Pesos Ph
500.00) per month for health and nutrition expenses or the equivalent of Six ‘Thousand Pesos
(PhP6,000.00) per qualified household-beneficiary per year, and an additional Three Hundred Pesos
(PhP300.00) per month per child for educational expenses or the equivalent of Three Thousand Pesos
(PhP3,000.00) 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 Hundred Pesos (PhP300.00) 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.

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

(@) Pregnant women must get a pre- and post natal care and be attended by a skilled ot trained
health care professional during childbirth;

(b) Atleast one responsible person must attend family development sessions and natural family
planning sessions conducted by the Department, at least once a month;

(©) Children 0 to 5 years old must receive regular preventive health check-ups;

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

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

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

(® 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 practice
proper garbage disposal;

@ Atleast one responsible person must plant trees in their surroundings; and

@)_ Atleast one responsible person must assist, help or participate in bayanihan projects in their
respective barangay or municipality.

SECTION 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 duly 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.

SECTION 9. Non-Compliance with Conditions. - The responsible person of a reported
qualified houschold-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-beneficiaty continues with non-
compliance, the benefits under this Act may be suspended.

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

SECTION 10. Periodic Assessment of Cash Transfer. - The amounts indicated in Section 6
shall be made available to the qualified houschold-beneficiaries during the first two (2) years of the
implementation of this Act and reasonable adjustments may thereafter be made by the President, if
necessary, upon recommendation by the Department, after taking into account the rates of inflation and
similar economic indicators.

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


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

SECTION 13. Lead Agency. - The Depattment shall serve as the central planning,
coordinating, implementing and monitoring body of the program.

In the implementation of this Act, the Department shall have the following functions:

(@) Select and use an appropriate, effective and cost efficient method devised for the purpose of
ing and selecting qualified household-beneficiaries;

(b) Identify and select the target houschold-beneficiaries on the basis of a uniform, objective and
transparent selection 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;

(@ 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 once a month
using the monitoring and evaluation systems designed for the purpose;

(8 Coordinate with the Advisory Council to recommend to the President measures and policies
for the responsive implementation of the commitments under this Act;

(@ 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;

(b) 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.

SECTION 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.

SECTION 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 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.

SECTION 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 chairmen of the Committee
on Poverty Alleviation of the House of Representatives, and of the Committee on Social Justice, Welfare

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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,

SECTION 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 (CSOs) 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 fesults of its monitoring activities relative to the implementation of the program to the Joint
Congressional Oversight Committee.

SECTION 18. Convergence of Programs and Services. - ‘To ensure that the qualified
houschold-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 of outcomes.

SECTION 19. Annual-Appropeiations. - 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 shall be included in the annual
General Appropriations Act.

SECTION 20. 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 o 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 the money to persons other than the qualified houschold-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 (P10,000.00) but not more than Twenty Thousand Pesos (P20,000.00), or
both imprisonment and fine at the discretion of the court.

Administrative sanctions shall be without prejudice to prosecution in the proper courts.

SECTION 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.

SECTION 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.

SECTION 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,