HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
RECEIVED

Republic of the Philippines

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

Seventeenth Congress

First Regular Session TON UNIT

PILLS AND NOEX SERVICE .
EEN Ep
HOUSE BILL NO. _4] _

Introduced by HONORABLE ROMERO “MIRO” S. QUIMBO

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Section 9 of Article II of the 1987 Constitution provides that “the State
shall 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.”

It is in the realization of this constitutional provision that the
PantawidPamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) was initiated in 2008. 4Ps is a
“human development measure of the national government that provides
conditional cash grants to the poorest of the poor to improve the health,
nutrition and the education of children aged 0-18.” It aims to address the
causes and effects of the intergenerational cycle of poverty by investing in
the health and education of children.

As of August 2015, there are 4,353,597 active household-beneficiaries
of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program.? For the same year, high
compliance rates were recorded for March an April: “99.91% for the
deworming of children ages 6-14; 98.99% for school attendance of children
ages 6-14; 98.33% for school attendance ages 6-14; 97.05% for school
attendance of children ages 15-18; 95.95% for health visits of pregnant
women and children ages 0-5; and 94.84% for attendance in family
development sessions. This shows the progress that 4Ps has effected in
promoting health, education and nutrition among the poor.?

‘

With the promising impact of the program in poverty alleviation and
human development, it is therefore suitable to establish the institutional
mechanisms and legal framework in order to ensure that we sustain this
program’s achievements, curb poverty incidence, and likewise fulfill our
commitment to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to achieve

°“pantawidPamilyang Pilipino Program.” Gov-ph website, <http://www.sov.ph/programs/conditional-cash-
transfer, accessed June 29, 2016>

“bid.


universal primary education, promote gender equality, reduce child
mortality and improve maternal health care.

This bill seeks to institutionalize the 4Ps implemented by the
Department of Social Welfare and Development by providing for processes
and requirements in the selection of beneficiaries, specifying the conditions
for the cash grant and modes of cash transfer, sanctions for non-compliance
with conditions, exit strategy, penalties for violation and framework for
implementation, among others.

In view whereof, the expedient passage of this bill is earnestly sought.

ROMERO “MIRQ” S. QUIMBO
Representative
Second District} Marikina City



Republic of the Philippines

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

Seventeenth Congress
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No. _ 41

Introduced by HONORABLE ROMERO “MIRO” S. QUIMBO

AN ACT
INSTITUTIONALIZING THE PANTAWID PAMILYANG PILIPINO
PROGRAM (4PS) AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREOF

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

SECTION 1. Title. - This Act shall be known as the “4Ps Act of 2016.”

SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. - It is the declared policy of the State to
promote the development of human capital among Filipino families,
especially on young children. Towards this end, interventions necessary to
break the inter-generational cycle of poverty among poor households caused
by low schooling and high malnutrition rate must be set in place.

SECTION 3.Objectives. - Pursuant to the government’s commitment to
promote inclusive growth and provide social assistance and development to
its citizens, this Act aims to:

a. Improve the health care of pregnant women and young children;
b. Increase enrolment and/or attendance of children in elementary and
secondary levels;

c. Reduce incidences of child labor; ~

d. Improve maternal health;

e. Encourage parents to invest on their own and their children’ future;

f. Encourage parents’ participation in the growth and development of
young children, as well as involvement in the community.

SECTION 4. Definition of Terms. - As used in this Act:

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


b. Child - refers to persons belonging to the qualified household-beneficiary
below eighteen (18) years of age;

c. Department - refers to the Department of Social Welfare and
Development (DSWD) which is the lead agency in the implementation of the

Program;

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

e. Grievance Redress System -refers to the mechanism of the Department
which addresses and resolves issues and concerns related to the
implementation of the Program.

f. Health Service Providers — refer to barangay health workers, barangay
nutrition scholars and midwives;

g. 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;

h, 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 households
adopted by the national government agencies and being implemented by the
Department;

i. Poor - refers to households identified using the National Household
Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR);

j. 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
particularly of children below eighteen (18) years of age;

1. Qualified Household-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;
and


m. Responsible Person - refers to the parent or guardian in the qualified
household-beneficiary.

SECTION 5.Selection of Qualified Household-Beneficiaries. - On a nation-
wide basis, the Department and the Health Service Providers shall select
qualified household-beneficiaries using the NHTS-PR. To be eligible for cash
grants, a household must also have members who are ages 0 to 18 years
old, or a member who is pregnant at the time of registration to the program.

‘The following geographic criteria shall also be the basis in the selection of
qualified household-beneficiaries:

a. 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 6. 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 an 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 household-beneficiaries’ compliance with
conditionalities set forth in Section 7 of this Act.

SECTION 7. Conditional Cash Transfer. — Subject to certain conditions, each
qualified household beneficiary shall receive a conditional cash transfer
equivalent to Five Hundred Pesos (Php 500.00) per month for health and
nutrition expenses or the equivalent of Six Thousand Pesos (Php 6,000.00)
per qualified household-beneficiary per year, and an additional ‘Three
Hundred Pesos (Php 300.00) per month per child for educational expenses
or the equivalent of Three Thousand Pesos (Php 3,000.00) per a 10-month
school year. A maximum of three (3) children per qualified household-
beneficiary shall be allowed.

SECTION 8. Conditions for Entitlement. All qualified household-beneficiaries
shall comply with the following conditions as a requirement for continued

program eligibility:


a. Pregnant women must get a pre- and post natal care and be attended by
a skilled or trained health care professional during childbirth;

b. At least one responsible person must attend family development sessions
and natural family planning sessions conducted by the Department;

c. Children ages 0 to 5 years old must receive regular preventive health
check-ups;

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

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

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

g. Household-beneficiary shall join and complete at least two (2) recognized
government-sponsored livelihood training programs.

SECTION 9.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 methods, such as but not limited to
cash card, over-the-counter, money remittance services, conduit rural
banks and cooperatives.

SECTION 10.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. If despite
the notice, the qualified houschold-beneficiary continues with the non-
compliance, the benefits under this Act may be suspended.

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

SECTION 11. Maximum Limit—Each qualified household-beneficiary~shall
receive the conditional cash transfer for a maximum period between six (6)


48

necessary, upon recommendation by the Department, after taking into
account the rates of inflation and similar economic indicators.

SECTION 13.Lead AgencyThe Department 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:

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;

d. Coordinate with different national and local agencies, including
organizations from the private sector to effect convergence towards the full
implementation of statutory commitments herein;

e. Set up monitoring and evaluation systems and methodologies on
compliance of conditions, implementation_of operations and output 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;

f. Coordinate with the Advisory Council to recommend to the President
measures and policies for the responsive implementation 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 crosg-checked
periodically for duplications and inaccurate or erroneous information;

&
h. Formulate implementing rules and guidelines for the enforcement oP this
Act;

i. 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

j. Perform 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 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 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.Annual Appropriations—The Secretary of Social Welfare and
Development shall include in the Department’s program the implemeritation


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 (Php 10,000.00) but not more than Twenty Thousand Pesos
(Php 20,000.00) or both imprisonment and fine at the discretion of the
court.

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

SECTION 19. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - The lead implementing
agency, DSWD, in consultation with the Department of Health, Department
of Education, and the Department of Interior and Local Government shall,
within ninety (90) days from the effectivity of this Act, formulate and
promulgate the rules and regulations which shall guide the program’s
implementation and carry out the provisions of this Act.

SECTION 20.Separability Clause. - If any provision or part of this Act is
held unconstitutional or invalid, the remaining arts or provisions not
affected shall remain in full force and effect.

SECTION 21.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 22.£ffectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its

publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) newspapers of
general circulation.

Approved,