HOUSE OF ‘REPRESENTATIVES
RECEIVED
pate: 30 JUN 20i5
Republic of the Philippines

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. __ 318

AN ACT
INSTITUTIONALIZING THE PANTAWID PAMILYANG PILIPINO PROGRAM (4Ps)
TO REDUCE POVERTY AND PROMOTE HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT
AND PROVIDING FUNDS THEREFOR

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Government efforts to reduce poverty incidence in the Philippines is
undaunting. Based on the statistical data of the Department of Social Welfare and
Development (DSWD) thru the Listahan or the National Household Targeting System
for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR), an administrative tool for targeting poor families,
a total of 1,511,530 household beneficiaries of the program have improved their
economic status in life which represents more or less 36% of the total number of
beneficiaries of the 4Ps.

The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), aimed to improve the health,
nutrition, and the education of children aged 0-18, As patterned from the conditional
cash transfer (CCT) policies in Latin American, the program have lifted millions of
people from poverty around the world. According to a World Bank impact evaluation
report, the Philippine 4P’s beneficiaries have spent their cash payments in education
and medical expenses. This led the Philippine government to expand the program
coverage to include children aged 15-18 to put more children in school and keep
their attendance

With the gradual improvement in life of the Filipinos, the gains of the program
and the reforms introduced can now be felt though microscopically by our less
fortunate brothers and sisters. The path towards the attainment of inclusive growth
has been paved but more attention, detail and evaluation of the program should be
put in place. And to sustain the gains of the program, to cover more beneficiaries and
see to it that the efficient implementation of program will not be put to naught, the

institutionalization of the program is hereby proposed.
f |


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 318

Introduced by Representative MARLYN L. PRIMICIAS-AGABAS

AN ACT
INSTITUTIONALIZING THE PANTAWID PAMILYANG PILIPINO PROGRAM (4Ps)
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
6 Pilipino Program (4Ps) Act

SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. - The State recognizes the need to strengthen the
9 solidarity of the family and actively promote its total development. -The State further
10 recognizes its obligation to promote a just and dynamic social order that will ensure
Il the prosperity and independence of the nation and free the people from poverty
12 through policies that provide adequate social services, promote full employment, a
13 fising standard of living, and an improved quality of life for all. The State furthermore

14 recognizes the need to protect the poor; thus, the State hereby declares it a policy

15 to:

16 (a) Provide assistance to the poor to alleviate their immediate needs;

7 (b) Break the intergenerational cycle of poverty through investment in
18 human capital and improved delivery of basic services to the poor,
9 particularly education, health and nutrition;

20 (c) Promote gender equality and empowerment of women;

21 (d) Achieve universal primary education:

2 (e) Reduce child mortality; and

(f) Improve maternal health.


SEC. 3. Definition of Terms. ~ As used in this Act

(a) Case management refers to a process used by the Department of
Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to enable the household-
beneficiaries to improve their functioning by dealing with their
difficulties specifically in complying with the conditionalities of the
Program;

(b) Compliance verification refers to the checking and monitoring
done to ensure that the qualified household-beneficiaries comply with
conditions for entitlement set forth by the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino
Program (4Ps);

(c) Conditional cash grant refers to the amount being received by the
qualified household-beneficiaries who comply with the conditions for
entitlement,

(d) Extremely poor refers to households, duly identified by the
standardized targeting system, whose income falls short of enabling
them to provide even just their nutritional requirements;

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

(f) Grievance Redress System refers to the mechanism of the DSWD

which addresses and resolves issues and concerns related to the
implementation of the Program;
(g) Health facility refers to a barangay health station, rural health unit
or primary hospital
(h) Health service providers refer to barangay health workers,
barangay nutrition scholars and midwives;
(i) Poor refers to households whose income falls below the poverty
threshold as defined by the National Economic and Development
Authority (NEDA) and cannot afford in a sustained manner to provide
their minimum basic needs of food, health, education, housing and
other essential amenities of life;


(i) Preventive health check-up refers to health services comprising of
complete immunization, deworming, weight monitoring and
management of childhood diseases;

(k) 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;

(I) Qualified household-beneficiaries refer to households identified
by the DSWD for entitlement of the monthly conditional cash grant;

(m) Responsible person refers to the parent or guardian in the
qualified household-beneficiary; and

{n) Standardized Targeting System refers to a system for identifying
who and where the poor households are through the generation of
socioeconomic database of poor households that is adopted by
national government agencies and implemented by the DSWD.

SEC. 4. Selection of Qualified Household-Beneficiaries. — On a nationwide basis,
the DSWD shall select qualified household-beneficiaries using a standardized
targeting system. The DSWD shall conduct a revalidation of targeting of beneficiaries
every three (3) years.

SEC. 5. Local Verification Committee. — A Local Verification Committee shall be
created in every municipality or city composed of two (2) local government unit
representatives, an accredited health-service provider from the barangay, a
representative of an accredited civil society organization, and the school head as
designated by the Department of Education (DepED)

The Committee shall be tasked to ensure that the initial list of beneficiaries satisfies

the eligibility requirements set forth under this Act.

SEC. 6. Conditional Cash Transfer. ~ Subject to certain conditions, each qualified
household-beneficiary shall receive a conditional cash transfer equivalent to five
hundred pesos (P500.00) per month for health and nutrition expenses or the
equivalent of six thousand pesos (P6,000.00) per qualified household-beneficiary per
year.



A maximum of three (3) children per qualified household-beneficiary shall be

given conditional cash grants for educational expenses

(a) Three hundred pesos (P300.00) per month per child enrolled in
elementary or the equivalent of three thousand pesos (P3,000.00)
per a ten (10)-month school year;

(b) Five hundred pesos (P500.00) per month per child enrolled in junior
high school or the equivalent of five thousand pesos (PS,000.00)
per a ten (10)-month school year; and :

(c) Seven hundred pesos (P700.00) per month per child enrolled in
senior high school or the equivalent of seven thousand pesos
(P7,000.00) per a ten (10)-month school year

A supplementary education grant of three hundred pesos (P300.00) per
month shall be given to the child in elementary or high school who has maintained

passing grades in all subjects after the second year of availment 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
(a) Children zero (0) to five (5) years old must receive regular
preventive health check-ups and vaccinations;
(b) Children six (6) to thirteen (13) years old must avail of deworming
pills at least twice a year;
(c) Children three (3) to five (5) years old must attend day care or
preschool classes at least eighty-five percent (85%) of the time;
(d) Children must attend elementary or high school classes at least
eighty-five percent (85%) of the time;
(e) Pregnant women must avail of pre- and post-natal care and give
birth with the assistance of a skilled or trained health care
professional in a health facility;



(f) At least one (1) responsible person must attend family development
sessions and natural family planning sessions conducted by the
DSWD, at least once a month;

(g) At least one (1) responsible person must join and complete at least
two (2) government-recognized or accredited nongovernment
organization (NGO)-sponsored entrepreneurship or livelihood
training programs;

(h) At least one (1) responsible person must maintain cleanliness in the
surroundings and practice proper garbage disposal

(i) At least one (1) responsible person must plant trees in the
surroundings; and

(j) At least one (1) responsible person must assist, help or participate in

bayanihan projects in their respective barangay or municipality.

SEC. 8. Noncompliance with Conditions. - The responsible person of a reported
qualified household-beneficiary who fails to comply with the conditions set forth in
Section 7 of this Act shall at first be notified in writing. After four (4) months of
noncompliance, the household-beneficiary shall be subject to case management. If,
despite the case management, the qualified household-beneficiary continues with
noncompliance, the benefits under this Act may be suspended. Should the qualified
household-beneficiary so notified persist in not complying with the conditions within a
period of one (1) year, the conditional cash grant shall be cancelled

SEC. 9. Mode of Cash Transfer. - The conditional cash transfer shall be made by
the DSWD. The conditional cash grant shall be received by the grantee or any of the
grantee’s duly authorized representative on a bimonthly basis through an authorized
government depository bank duly identified by the DSWD, using different appropriate
payment modes, including cash card, over-the-counter transaction, money

remittance services, conduit rural banks, and cooperatives.

SEC. 10. Periodic Assessment. ~ The amounts indicated in Section 6 of this Act
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 President, if necessary, upon recommendation by the

6



DSWD, after taking into account the rates of inflation and similar economic

indicators.

The grant rates may be adjusted by the DSWD if warranted by the changes in the
socioeconomic conditions existing at the time. The DSWD shall ensure that the grant
rates are sufficient to make a positive impact on the health, nutrition and education of
grantees: Provided, That the DSWD shall ensure that the grant will not serve as

disincentive for family members to work and improve their economic conditions.

SEC. 11. Loan Assistance. - Responsible persons who successfully completed the
entrepreneurship or livelihood programs required under Section 7 of this Act may be
given loan assistance as their initial capital by the appropriate government agency
that will implement relevant programs pursuant to Section 16 of this Act

SEC. 12. Five (5)-Year Maximum Limit. — Each qualified household-beneficiary

shall receive the conditional cash grant for a maximum period of five (5) years.

SEC. 13. Lead Agency. - The DSWD shall serve as the central planning,
coordinating, implementing and monitoring body of the Program. In the
implementation of this Act, the DSWD 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 household-beneficiaries on the basis
of a uniform, objective and transparent selection process;

(c) Conduct seminar-workshops and training programs in order to
ensure qualified household-beneficiary awareness of the conditions
and other actions pertinent to this Act;

(4) Coordinate with different national and local agencies, including
organizations from the private sector to ensure full implementation
of statutory commitments herein;

(e) 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 advisory



when

cwr)s

and monitoring committees at the national, regional and municipal
levels to verify compliance once a month using the monitoring and
evaluation systems designed for the purpose;

(f) Recommend to the President measures and policies for the
responsive delivery 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;

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

(i) Submit an annual report to Congress including, but not limited to, all
aspects of its operations, financial status and other relevant data;
and

(i) Perform such other functions as may be necessary or incidental to

the proper implementation of the provisions of this Act

SEC. 14. Advisory Council. - An Advisory Council shall be created at the
municipal, regional and national levels to be headed by the DSWD and may be
composed of representatives from the DepED, Technical Education and Skills
Development Authority, Department of Health, Philippine “Health Insurance
Corporation, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Trade
and Industry, Department of Labor and Employment, National Anti-Poverty
Commission, the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP), the local

government unit concerned, and accredited NGOs, as members.

The Advisory Council is principally tasked to monitor and assess actions and
activities relative to the implementation of the Program. It shall also serve as a
Grievance Committee 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, using the Grievance Redress System.

SEC. 15. Independent Monitoring Committee. — An Independent Monitoring
Committee at the municipal, regional and national level composed of representatives

8



SEC. 16. Convergence of Programs and Services. ~ To ensure that the targeted
household-beneficiaries remain nonpoor after the prescribed maximum limit for
receipt of the conditional cash grant, multi-stakeholder and interagency convergence
of programs and services shall be implemented. This shall focus on the
enhancement of operational efficiency and strengthening of interagency partnerships

for greater impact and sustainability of outcomes.

SEC. 17. Appropriations. - The amount necessary to carry out the provisions of
this Act shall be charged against those authorized in the current and subsequent
General Appropriations Acts. The appropriation shall continue until the Program has
covered sixty percent (60%) of the total number of extremely poor families in the
Philippines, as may be determined by the Philippine Statistics Authority at the time of
the enactment of this Act. The appropriation shall be included in the annual
appropriation of the DSWD.

SEC. 18. Penalty. — Any person, public or private, whether or not 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 contained
in the registry, with the view of altering the fact, or aiding in the grant of the 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 (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 imposed without prejudice to prosecution in

the proper courts.

SEC. 19. Joint Congressional Oversight Committee. — Upon the effectivity of this
Act, a congressional oversight committee, hereafter to be referred to as the 4Ps

9



ea

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 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
overall framework to monitor and ensure the proper implementation of this Act. It
shall likewise determine inherent weaknesses in the law and recommend necessary

remedial legislation or executive measures.

SEC. 20. Implementing Rules and Regulations. ~ Within six (6) months from the
effectivity of this Act, the Secretary of Social Welfare and Development shall, in
coordination with appropriate government departments and agencies, with the
participation of the local government units, promulgate the necessary rules and
regulations to carry out the provisions of this Act

SEC. 21. Separability Clause. - If any part or provision 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 a newspaper of general circulation.

Approved,