osname ad RM i RN Og A i Pi i a

Republic of the Philippines

EPRESENTATIVES
Quezon Uty DATE y .
TINE: 7
SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS :
First Regular Session ey:

73

HOUSE BILL NO. BILLS AND iD}

Introduce:

‘ed by Represontative Alfredo D, Vargas iit

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

As part

the cc y's Millenium Development Goals (MDGs), the Philippines aims iv
eradicate extreme hunger and poverty by the end of 2015. It seemed unlikely that the country
reached this target hecause the poverty Incl 1 of 2024,
the poverty incidence among Filipino individuals rose from 24.6 percent in 2013 to 258
percent.

is continues to

‘The conditional cash transter 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
education and health.

2013, the World B:

reported that the 4Ps is reaching ist of its key objectives. The
study found that the program helps in keeping poor children in school by increasing enrolment
and school attendance among 4 4Ps is als its objective
of keeping poor children heaithy as it enables parents to provide better care tor their children.
Indeed, the program holds much promise in poverty and meeting the MDGs,

aged 3-17 years ald.

To further strengthen the program and ensure its success, this bi

ditional cash transfer progcam, it formaily lists

the program grants and the!

corresponding,

The proposed act also n int 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. dint

BefRED

va “AS Hh

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
RECEIVED

REeSTRATION UNIT
SERVICE |


vais: wonder ea Gv ns NS a RG TE a a RN

si

Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS

rst Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 73

Introduced hy Representative Alfredo D. Vargas Hf

AN ACT
INSTITUTIONALIZING THE PANTAW!D PAMILVANG PILIPINO PROGRAM (49's} T
REDUCE POVERTY AND PROMOTE HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT AND
PROVIDING FUNDS THERETOR

3

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

SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the “Pantawid Pamilyang
Pilipino Program (4Ps) Act”.

SEC. 2, Declaration of Policy. 5 the need to strengthen the
solidarity of the family and actively promote its total development.

‘The State further recognizes its vuligation to promote a just and dynamic social
order that will ensure the prosperity an f the nation and free the
people from poverty Unuugh policies that provide adequate social services, promote
full employment, a rising standard of living, and an improved qui

of life for all
ity of life for all,

The State furthermore recognizes the need to protect the poor; thus,

y declares it 2 policy to:

(a) Provide assist

jate their immediate needs;

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

(© Promote gender equality and empowerment of women:
{d) Achieve universal primary education,
ic primary

(e) Make quality tertiary and technical-vocational educati

accessible to

(gi Improve maternal health,


‘ecevwvaisanvosestupn a in HE NR in Sa SG i RA MR i RB ee PS SR

SEC. 2. Definition of Terms. -

d in this Act:

(a) Case management refers to 2 process used by the Department of

Social Welfare bes Development {DSWD} to enable the household-
by dea

thelr functioning

ng with their

difficulties speciically in complying with the conditionalities of
program,

refers to the checking and monitoring to

ensure that the qualified household-beneficiaries comply with

ing received by the

(d) Grantee refers to the most responsible person of the qualified
househoid-beneficiary authorized to receive the conditional cash

(e) Grievance redress system reters to the mechanism of the DSWD
which addresses and resolves issues and concerns related to the
implementation of the program:

Health facitity vefers to barangay health station, rural health unit or
primary hospital;

(g) Health service providers reier to barangay heaith workers, barangay

olars and midwives;

(h) Poor refers to households whose incame falls helow the poverty

threshold as defined by ihe National Economic
Authority (NEDA) and cannot afford i

ather esse

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

() Program refers to the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps)
w strategy that provides
conditional cash grant to poor households to improve their healt!

nutrition and cducation;

is the national poverty redui

(k) Qualified househald-heneficiaries vofer to ids identified by

the DSWD for entitlement to the monthly conditional cash grant:

()) Responsible person refers to the parent or guardian in the qualified
househoid-beneficiary:

(m) Standardized targetiny system refers to a system for identifying
who and where the poor houscholds are through the generation of

3


“esos ctu nue nO NTH CIR SE CR RP RA RR SENT A EN AN

socio-economic database of poor households adopted by the national

manted by the DSWD.

SEC. 4. Selection of Qualified Household-Beneficiaries. -_ Om 2 nation-wide
basis, the DSWD shall sclect qualified household-beneficiaries using a standardized
targeting system. The DSWD shall conduct a revalidation of targeting every three (3)

yet

SEC. 5. Local Verification Committee. - A Local verification commitiee shall be
created in every municipality or city composed of twa (2) lacal government

presentatives, an accredited health-service provider from the barangay, a
representative of an accredited civil society organization, and

designated by the Deparment of Education (DepEd).

school head as

desigi
This Committee shall be tasked te cnsure that the initial list of beneficiaries satisfies
the eligibility requirements set forth under this Act.

SEC. 6. Conditional Cash Grant. - Subject to certain conditions, each qualified
household-beneficiary shall receive a conditional cash grant equiva Fi

grant equivalent to Fi
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} chitdren per qualified household-henefi
given conditional cash grant for educational expenses:

ry shall be

(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 10-month school year;

(b} Five hundred pesos (P500.0G) per month per child enrolled in junior
high schoo! or the equivalent of Five thousand pesos (P5,000.00) per a

high Lor the eq

10-month school year;

(© Seven iuudred pesos (P700.00) per month per child enroiied in senior
higi the equivalent of Seven thousand pesos {P7,000.00} per
a 10-month schooi year;

A supplementary education grant of Three hundred pesos (P300.00) per
month shall be given to the child in scheol whe has
maintained passing grades in ali subjects after the second year ot
availment of the program.

(4) One deserving child of the three children who has finished high schoo!
shall be given a college scholarship gr
programs including technical and vocational conrs
supplement of Thirty thousand pesos (P30,000.00) per semester.

¢. 7. Conditions for Entitl 6 shall
comply with the following conditions as a requirement for continued program
eligihitity:

WPhouscholiict,

~ A gu:

(a) Children @ to S years old must receive regular preventive health
check-ups and vaccinations;


oi eB ae 5 ESR SRG RESVERATROL

(b) Children 6 to below 18 years old must avail of de-worming pills at

Teast twice a ye:

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

@)

mist attend clemontary or high schoo! classes at least eighty-

five percent (85%) of the time:

(€) Children enrotied in college or technical-vocational course should not
be employed:

(fj Children enrolied in college pass all academic subjects enrolled in
every semester.

(g) Pregnant women must get a pre- and post natal care and be attended
by a skilled or trained health care professional during childbirth in a
health facility;

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

()) At least one responsible person must join and complete at ieast two
(2) government recognized or accredited NGO-sponsoi

entrepreneurship or iivelinood training programs;

At least on

ainiain cleaniiness in the
surroundings and practice proper garhage dispo:

ne responsible person must

(At least one responsible person must plant trees in their
surroundings:and

{Wj At ieast one responsible person must assist, help or parti
bayanihan projects in their respective barangay or municipality.

SEC. 8. Non-Compliance with Conditions. - ‘The responsible person of a
reported qualified household-beneficiary who fails to comply with the conditions set
forth in Section 7 shall at first be notified in writing. After four months of non-
compliance, the househoid-beneficiary shail be subject to case management. If despite
the case management, the qualified household-beneficiary continues with non-
compliance, the benefits under this Act may be suspended

Should the qualified household-beneficiary so notified persist in their failure to
as directed, the conditional cash grant shall be canceled after one year of non-

Mode of Cash Transfer. - The conditions! cash wausfer shall be made by
ihe DSWD. The conditional cash grant shall be received by the grantee or any of the
duly authori ive on a bi-monthly basis through an authorized
government depository bank duly identified by the DSWD using different appropriate
payment modes including cash card, over-the-counter, money remittance services,
conduit rural banks, and cooperatives.



pe eave vo pee: NS ye BRE 0 8-5 RE E  RO  H PRERE SS 6 EG PBC AE HN BR CB ER NNN PR

SEC, 10. Perivdic Assessment. - The amounts indicated in Section 6 shall be
made available to the qualified household-honcft the first two (2) years of
(he implementation of this Act and reasonable adjustments may thereafter be made by

President, if necessary, upon recomm D, after taking into
account the rates of inflation and similar economic indicators.

SEC. 11. Loun Assistance. - Responsible persons who successfully completed
the entre) hip or livelthoed programs required under Section 7 may be given
joan assistance as their mitiaf capital by the appropriate government agency that will
Jlement relevant programs pursuant to Section 16 uf this Act

SEC. 12. Seven-Year Maximum Limit, - ach qualified houschold-benefictary
eceive the conditional cash grant for a maximum period of seven (7) years,
Provided further, che three cht ;wed to finish the degree or
non-degree course.

dren shall be all

SEC, 13. Lead Agency, - The DSWD shail serve as the centrai planning,
coordinating, implementing itoring body of the program.

In the implementation of this Act, the DSWD shall have the following fimctions:
(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:

{o} Conduct seminar-workshops and taining programs in order to ensure
qualified household-beneficiary awareness of the conditions and other
actions pertinent to this Act;

(a) Cos . fferent national and local agencies, including
organizations irom the private sector to ensure full implementation of
statutory commitments herein;

{e) Set up monitoring and evalnation systems and methodologies on

compliance of conditions, implementation of operations, and output
and impact assessments. It shall alse coordinate with the Advisory and
Monitoring committees at the nationai, regional and municipal levels
to verify compliance once 2 month using the monitoring and
evaluation systems designed for the purpose;

(8 Recommend to the President measures and policies for the responsive
implementation of th

under this Act:

(8) Coordinate with different national and local agencies ta maintain and
update obj poverty maps which will be checked and cross-
checked periodically for duplications and inaccurate or erron

informati

{h) Formulate i
this Act;


“everest ERO Yu Ra RD I NS eR Pe A AA HE sR ER i BR SR RM RE SPE ORR

(@ Submit au annual repore to Congress including, but not limited to, all

ancial status and other relevant data; and

(i) Perform such other functions as may b

cidental to the

proper enforcenieni of tne statutory commitments under this Act.

sre. u ory An Advisory Councit shall be created at the
municipal, regional and national levels to be headed by the DSWD and may he
composed of represontatives from the DepEd, Comimissiun on Higher Education,
‘Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, Department of Health,

pine Health Insurance Corporsiivn, Department of interior and Locai Government,
Department of Trade and Industry, Department Employment, Nationa!
Poverty Commissiv, National Commission on indigenous Peoples, National
Commission on Disability Affair, the loca! government unit concerned, and accredited

f Labor and

priucipally tasked to monitor and assess actions and
activities relative to the implementation of the program.

Grievance Committee tasked \v accept compiaints and grievances that may arise within
their respertive territo

dispose cases filed in connection thereto.

condhict?

estigation

SEC. 15. Independent Monitoring Con + Au Independent Monitoring
Committee at the municipal. regional and national level composed of representatives
from the ) shail be created.

from the private sectoi

nd civil suciety organizations

‘The Independent M tec is principally t
monitoring activities of the DSWD and provide feedback thereto for proper action, It
shall su a on the results of its ti

implementation of the program to the Advisory Counc

SEC. 16. Convergence of Programs and Services. - To ensure that the targeted
household-beneficiaries graduate and remain non-po: the proscribed maxi

limit for receipt of the conditional cash grant, multi-stakeholder and inter-agency
convergence of programs ‘ices shall be implemented. This shall focus on the
enhancement of operational efficiency and strengthening of inter-agency partnerships

ability of cute

SEC. 17. Annual Appropriations. ~ Fxcept for p 16, The
Secretary of Social Welfare and Development shall include in the DSWD’s program the
implementation of this Act. the ini th shall be charged against the

current year’s appropriations of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps)
Thereafter, the its contin di

the annual General Appropriations Act.

ecessary fo
y

SEC. 19, Penalty. ~ Any person, public or private, whether acting in conspiracy
with public officiats. who, hy act or omission, inserts or allows the insertion of data or
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 mency 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



I
,
|

pesos (P 10,000.00) but uot more than Twenty thousand pesos (P20,000.00), or both
imprisonment and

iscretion of the court.

Administrative sanctions shall be without prejudice to prosecution in the proper

SEC. 20. Implementing Rules and Regulations. Withi sia (6) months from the
effectivity of this Act, the Secretary of Social Welfare and Development shall, in

coordin ent departments and agencies, with the

h appropriate govt

participation of the local government units, promulgate the necessary rules

‘ions te carry out the provisions of this Act.

SEC. 21. Separability Ciause. - if any provision or part of this Act is held
ms not affecied shall remain

in full force and effect.

EC. 22. Repeating ase ~ Any law, presidential decree or issuance, executive
order, letter of instructio © order, rule or regulation contrary to or

en with, the provisions of this Act is hereby repealed, modified, or amended
accordingly.

_ SEC. 23. Effectiviey. ~

the
the Off

This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
‘ve vr in at least cwo (2) nationai newspapers of general

circulation.

Approved,