-', ' 
SIXTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
) 
Third Regular Session 
) 
'15 
SEP 16. P2:41 
SENATE 
2954 
S.No. ___ _ 
Introduced by Senator Ralph G. Recto 
AN ACT 
INSTITUTIONALIZING 
A 
CONDITIONAL 
CASH 
TRANSFER 
PROGRAM, 
PROVIDING FOR THE AUTOMATIC INDEXATION OF CASH GRANTS AND FOR 
OTHER PURPOSES 
Explanatory Note 
The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), a fonn of conditional cash transfer 
(CCT), is now on its 7th year of implementation. Operating in 17 regions in the Philippines, 
spamling 79 provinces, 143 cities, and 1,484 municipalities, the number of families who benefit 
from the said program has now reached 4,436,732; including 10,888,887 school children aged 0 
to 18.1 
The program provides financial support to poor families, on condition that there will be 
investments in the education and health of children aged 0 to 18. It has been the mission of the 
govenunent that with the help of 4Ps, children of beneficiary families will be provided with the 
necessary faculties that will help them break free from intergenerational poverty-keeping their 
health in check and their education unhampered by forced employment to help augment what 
little income their parents eam. 
Findings from an Impact Evaluation on the Program has shown that with regard to 
education, there has been increased enrollment among children aged 3 to 11, and increased 
attendance among children aged 6 to 17-resulting in near universal enrollment at 98% in this 
age groUp.2 Meanwhile for health, there has been a 10% reduction in severe stunting among 
children aged 6 to 36 months; the reduction in stunting is expected to yield long tenn results, as 
stunting in the first few years of a child's life has been linked to lower educational attainment 
and reduced adult income.3 Healthcare-seeking behaviors have also been observed among 
beneficiary families when a child falls ill. 
The impact evaluation on the program has also noted a change in spending pattems of 
beneficiary families, who have been spending more on health and edncation as opposed to poor 
families who are not covered by the program4. 
Since the launch of the program, an overall increase in the general price level has been 
sustained as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The CPI was at an average of 111.4 
when the 4Ps was launched in 2008, increasing to 139.5 in 2014. 5 This resulted in an aImual 
average inflation rate of 4.4% for the period. Moreover, food inflation averaged 5.8%6 during the 
I Pantawid Pamilyan Pilipino Program. http://www.gov.ph/programs/conditional-cash-transfer/ 
2 The World Bank Philippines Conditional Cash Transfer Program Impact Evalnation 2012 (revised April 2014) 
J Ibid. 
4 Ibid. 
5 Consumer Price Index for all Income'Households and Headline Inflation Rates Jan 2004 - June 2015. 
http://www.nscb.gov.ph/secstatld..price.asp 
G Inflation Rates by Commodity Group http://www.bsp.gov.ph/statistics/efs..prices.asp 


same period, which may affect the poor more as they spend a larger share of their household 
budget on food. Despite the sustained increase in prices of commodities, the amount granted to 
beneficiary families has remained the same at P500 per household every month for the health 
grant, and P300 per child every month for the education grant. If the cash grant is maintained at 
its current amount, without due consideration for inflation, the real value of these grants will 
decrease over time, and may be insufficient for household spending. This could leave parents 
with no other recourse than to urge children to help out in generating income rather than finish 
schooling, which in tum could potentially pnsh back poor families into the cycle of 
intergenerational poverty. 
In order to sustain the continuous benefits from this program beyond changes in 
administrations, institutionalizing the 4Ps is imperative. The program plays a critical role in 
poverty alleviation and in the development of human capital, but its value in addressing the issue 
of poverty can be eroded if the amount given to eligible families remains stagnant amidst rapid 
increases in cost of living. This amount must be automatically reviewed and adjusted every 6 
years to account for changes in the cost of living without need for further legislative action. 
In light of the foregoing, the approval of this bill is eamestly sought. 
(JCY I NKIBC I FNAP 


SIXTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
) 
~jri1,;ttf' 
((:)tflfr- tlf Ill" ~~I'"rrt'"br'l 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
) 
Third Regular Session 
) 
'15 
SEP 16 P2:41 
SENATE 
2954 
S.No. __ _ 
,:tc " ·,'T.ElI' BY: ~ 
-
,-
~~ 
I 
Introduced by Senator Ralph G. Recto 
AN ACT 
INSTITUTIONALIZING 
A 
CONDITIONAL 
CASH 
TRANSFER 
PROGRAM, 
PROVIDING FOR THE AUTOMATIC INDEXATION OF CASH GRANTS AND FOR 
OTHER PURPOSES 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress 
assembled: 
. 
I 
SECTION 1. Title. - This Act shall be known as the "Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino 
2 
Program Act of 20 IS" 
3 
SEC. 2. Declaration oj Policy. - It is the declared policy of the State to promote the 
4 
development of human capital among Filipino families, especially on young children to break the 
5 
intergenerationa1 cycle of poverty among poor households caused by low schooling and high 
6 
malnutrition rate. 
7 
SEC. 3. Objectives. - Pursuant to the govemment's commitment to promote inclusive 
8 
growth and provide social assistance and development to its citizens, this Act aims to: 
9 
1. Improve preventive health care of pregnant women and young children; 
10 
2. Increase enrollment andlor attendance of children in elementary and 
11 
secondary levels; 
12 . 
3. Reduce incidence of child labor; 
13 
4. Improve maternal health; . 
14 
5. Encourage parents to invest in their own and their children's future; and 
15 
6. Encourage parents' participation in the growth and development of young 
16 
children, as well as involvement in the community. 
17 
SEC. 4. Eligible Beneficiaries. - To be eligible for the cash grants, households must meet 
18 
the following criteria: 
19 
1. Those belonging to the extremely poor household classification as defined 
20 
by the poverty threshold of the municipality/province based on the 
21 
issuance of the National Statistical and Coordination Board (NSCB) at the 
22 
time of selection; or those households from the infonnal settlers sector, 
23 
who will be displaced by the clearing and relocation operations of the 
24 
govemment: Provided, That those residing in danger areas like esteros, 
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1 
riverbanks, waterways, .shorelines, garbage dumps, and railroad tracks 
2 
shall be given priority; 
3 
2. Those households which, at the time of registration into the program, have 
4 
members who are aged 0 to 18 years old or have members who are 
5 
pregnant; and 
6 
3. Those who are willing to comply with the conditions specified by this Act. 
7 
Once eligible beneficiaries are defined, the beneficiary households are selected through 
8 
the use of the Proxy Means Test (PMT) from the infonnation gathered in a Household Survey 
9 
Assessment Tool to be conducted by the DSWD. 
10 
SEC. 5. Program Grants. - Selected beneficiary households shall receive cash grants for 
11 
at least one oftwo components: health/nutrition and/or education. 
12 
The health/nntrition gr<!nt component aims to promote healthy practices and family 
13 
development, improve the nutritional statns of young children, and increase the use of health 
14 
services hy the beneficiary household. The health grant is a fixed amount and does not depend on 
15 
the number of members in the household. 
16 
The education grant component is granted to a maximum of three children in the 
17 
beneficiary household, aged 3 to 18 years old. In the event that the child is already above 18 
18 
years old but is enrolled in or still wishes to continue his/her elementary or secondary education, 
19 
he/she shall be provided with the education grant until senior high school is completed. 
20 
The amounts for each component shall be detemlined by the DSWD, in consultation with 
21 
the Department of Bndget and Management (DBM), taking into acconnt the current needs for 
22 
health and edncation: Provided, That every six (6) years after the effectivity of this Act, the cash 
23 
grant shall be reviewed and adjusted to its present value using the Consumer Price Index, as 
24 
published by the Philippine Statistics Authority. 
25 
These grants are to be released on a quarterly basis to the beneficiary households for the 
26 
duration of their participation in the program, subject to their compliance with the program 
27 
conditionalities provided under Section 6 of this Act. 
28 
SEC. 6. Program Conditionalities. - Beneficiary households must comply with specific 
29 
health and education conditionalities in order to continue receiving the cash grants provided in 
30 
Section 5 of this Act. 
31 
To continue availing of the health grant, all household grantees must attend Family 
32 
Development Sessions (FDS) at least once a month; children aged 0 to 5 years old must visit 
33 
health centers to avail of health services in the periodicity defined by DOH protocol; children 
34 
aged 6 years old and ahove must take de-wonning pills twice a year at schools; and pregnant 
35 
household members must have at least one pre-natal consultation each trimester during the 
36 
pregnancy and delivery must be assisted hy skilled health persomlel. 
Page 2 of3 


1 
Children who receive education grants must be enrolled in a day care/pre-school 
2 
program, elementary or secondary school and maintain a class attendance rate of 85 percent per 
3 
month. 
4 
SEC. 7. F01:feiture of Grant. - The payment of cash grants will be tel1llinated if a 
5 
beneficiary household no longer meets the eligibility criteria provided in Section 4 of this Act 
6 
and/or does not comply with the conditions set forth in Section 6 of this Act. 
, 
7 
If a beneficiary household is fonnd to be non-compliant with the conditionalities in a 
8 
particnlar month, the cash grant will not be paid for that month. However, third offense of non-
9 
compliance will result in tennination of payments and temporary suspension from the program. 
10 
SEC. 8. Program Monitoring and Evaluation. -
The DSWD, together with the 
11 
Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Education (DepEd), shall condnct a 
12 
periodic impact evaluation study to assess the overall effectiveness of the program in meeting its 
13 
health and education objectives, and to address leakages to further improve the delivery of the 
14 
program. The Secretary ofDSWD shall furnish a copy of the resnlts of the study to Congress. 
15 
SEC. 9. Appropriations. - The funds necessary for the full implementation of this Act 
16 
shall be mmually appropriated in the budget ofthe DSWD under the General Appropriations Act 
17 
(GAA). 
18 
SEC. 10. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - The lead implementing agency, DSWD, 
19 
111 consultation with the DOH, DepEd, and Department of Interior and Local Govennnent 
20 
(DILG), shall, within ninety (90) days from the effectivity of this Act, fOl1llulate and promulgate 
21 
the rules and regulations which shall guide the program's implementation and carry out the 
22 
provisions of this Act. 
23 
SEC. 11. Separability Clause. - If, for any reason, any provision of this Act or any part 
24 
thereof shall be held unconstitutional and invalid, the other parts or provisions of this Act, which 
25 
are not affected thereby, shall remain in full force and effect. 
26 
SEC. 12. Repealing Clause. - All laws, decrees, resolutions, orders or ordinances or parts 
27 
thereof inconsistent with this Act, are hereby repealed, amended or modified accordingly. 
28 
SEC. 13. EffectiVity Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its 
29 
publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation. 
Approved, 
Page 3 of3