4 Ps
4 Ps
INTRODUCTION
Every parent wants the best for their children. They wanted their children to finish
their studies. But unfortunately, there are many poor families who cannot provide for the
education of their children. Some families can only afford to eat one meal a day and
they can’t even send their children to school. Sometimes the parents encourage their
children to work and earn for their living so that they can have something to eat. But we
can’t blame them, because sometimes it is better to have something for supper, than to
have something to feed your mind. Poverty has been a problem in the Philippines since
time immemorial. Unfortunately, the number of Filipinos suffering from the
aforementioned social problem is increasing every year. This is spite of the alleviation
interventions being implemented by the government and numerous civic society groups.
Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s nine-year term saw the birth and
growth of one of the foremost anti-poverty programs the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino
program-popularly known as the 4Ps. Pantawid Pamilya is a conditional cash transfer
program that provides incentives for poor families to invest in their future by ensuring
that mothers and children avail of healthcare and that children go to school. It is a
human development program of the national government that invest in the health and
education for poor households, particularly of children age 0-14 years old. The program
aims to provide social assistance and social development to its beneficiaries. By
providing opportunity for the development of the young it envisions to prevent the
vicious transmission of the cycle of poverty. Pantawid pamilya helps to fulfill the
country’s commitment to meet the Millennium Development Goals.
Since 2007, the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) of the Philippines is
the conditional cash transfer program implemented by the Development of Social
Welfare and Development (DSWD), along with cooperative partner institutions such as
the Department of Education, Department of Health, Department of the Interior and
Local Government, and various other government institutions. The 4Ps was patterned
after the conditional cash transfer programs in Latin American and African countries
which have been proven successful as a poverty reduction and social development
measure (DSWD, 2011).
The cash grant range from Php 500 to Php 1,400 per household per month,
depending on the number of eligible children. At the core of CCT program is a social
contract where a state provides financial resources to a family in exchange for that
family’s fulfillment of certain tasks such as ensuring that its children’s attendance in
school, regular visits to community health centers, participation in government-
sponsored feeding programs and attendance in more specific trainings, to name a few
(Sonera, 2010). And according to Fernandez and Olfindo(2011), today, the program is
seen more broadly as “ a vehicle for enhancing coordination within the government in
assisting the poor and for increasing the effectiveness of social protection program”.
Though statistics have shown that the increase in the poverty incidence among
population in 2003 to 2009, from 24.9-26.5% is not so substantial, it is an increase, and
26.5% implies that more than a quarter of the whole Philippines population is below the
poverty threshold. The 4Ps has been created to address that problem of poverty and
inequality in the country.
Dr. Virola (2011), Secretary General of the National Statistical Coordination
Board, said in the presentation of the 2009 official Poverty Statistic that a Filipino
needed Php 974 in 2009 to meet his or her monthly food needs and PhP 7,403 monthly
to stay of poverty. In 2009, a family of five needed PhP 4,869 monthly income to meet
food needs and PhP 7,017 to stay out of poverty. Results of the latest Social Weather
Stations (SWS) survey also revealed that one in every five Filipino households, or an
estimated 4.3 million families, experienced involuntary hunger in the third quarter of the
year 2011. The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) serves as the
government’s answers to the pressing issues regarding poverty Calvo (2011) defines
the 4Ps as programs that provide cash benefits to finance the basic needs and foster
investment in human capital to extremely poor households. These benefits are
conditioned on certain behaviors, usually related to investments in nutrition, health and
education.
The emergence of CCT programs like Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program
(4Ps) occurred during the late 1990s, with Mexico’s innovative Progresa (now
Opurtunidades) program emerging as one of the earliest schemes in 1997. The
evidences highlighting the effectiveness of Progresa motivated arise in similar programs
across Latin America. CCT programs are presently being implemented in several Latin
American countries including Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Jamaica Mexico, and several
more. Indonesia and Pakistan are only some of the Asian countries which employ the
CCT programs as a major tool of their social policy. In general, these programs provide
money and financial assistance to poor families under the condition that those transfers
are used as an investment on their children’s human capital, such as regular school
attendance and basic preventive health care. The main mission of the most CCT
programs is to prevent inter-generational transference of poverty that is to stay,
investing in young children and providing them with the provisions necessary for better
opportunities in the future.
The Philippine government shows its serious effort to combat poverty through the
continuing expansion of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Progam (4Ps), the Philippines’
version of the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program modeled by Latin American
countries. The 4Ps by far is the most comprehensive and also, controversial poverty
reduction program of the Philippine government because of the huge amount of money
the government is spending for this. The expansion of the program since 2008
necessitated the government to secure loans from the World Bank and the Asian
Development Bank amounting to a total of $805 million to finance the program. To date,
there are already 2.3 million households in 80 provinces who are enrolled in the
programme. The DSWD targets a total of 3 million household beneficiaries by end of
2012. This paper aims to discuss the salient features of the 4Ps and the reviews or
assessments done so far, and to expound the issues surrounding the targeting scheme
and pace of expansion of the program. In the 2000 Millennium Declaration, the
Philippines was among the many nations which committed to reduce its poverty rate by
2015. There are only a few years left into 2015 but the country’s poverty situation is still
far from its target. Worse, the poverty trend is going upwards. In the newly improved
poverty estimation, the poverty rate of the population climbed up from 24.9 in 2003 to
26.4 in 2006 and inched up further to 26.5 percent in 2009 marking an increase of 3.3
million poor individuals from 2003 to 2009. Tackling the worsening poverty situation is
one of the current government’s main anchors along with good governance. Good
governance is the main instrument in fighting poverty (NAPC Part 1, 2011). The current
administration’s national anti-poverty program’s centerpiece is Pantawid Pamilyang
Pilipino Program (4Ps) or what is commonly-known as the conditional cash transfer
(CCT) program. Other current poverty reduction programs include the subsidized health
insurance coverage, supplemental feeding program, the food for work program, rice
subsidy program, the SEA-K and the KALAHI-CIDSS among others. To prove the
serious intent of the government to fight poverty, the social services allocation is already
34.1 percent of the total budget wherein the first priority is to provide the basic income,
food and nutrition, health and education needs of the poor (NAPC Part 2, 2011). Among
the various programs, the 4Ps by far is the most comprehensive and most controversial
because of the huge amount the government is spending for this. This paper is devoted
to discussing briefly what the 4Ps is and how it has been implemented since its
inception in 2007, identifying some of the issues related to its design and
implementation, and offering some recommendations.
4ps in Pangasinan
Following the relief distribution of 4Ps beneficiaries in Asingan town to their indigent
neighbors who are not yet part of the program, beneficiaries here pooled their
emergency cash subsidies and donated relief goods to indigents in their communities.
DSWD-1 said some 30 families received the relief packs worth PHP150 to PHP200,
which could last two days depending on the number of family members.
Each relief good contains a kilogram of rice, a sachet of powdered milk, 250 grams of
sugar, a pack of biscuit, a bottle of fish paste or sauce, a small sachet of coffee, a can
of sardines, two shampoo sachets, a sachet of toothpaste, a bar of laundry soap and a
bath soap.
In some barangays, the relief packs include 500 grams of bihon and five eggs, the post
read.
DSWD-1 said even some barangay officials, teachers, principals, and others have also
donated cash, live chickens, and fresh vegetables that were also given as relief to those
in need in their communities.
“The beneficiaries prioritized senior citizens who have no family members to help them,
persons with disabilities, solo parents and other indigent families who are most in need
and not yet included in the program,” the post added.
DSWD-1 said the 4Ps beneficiaries plan to again distribute relief goods next month from
the emergency subsidy they will be receiving in May.
In Asingan town, through the 4Ps beneficiaries effort, they distributed last week a total
of 232 relief packs --33 packs for barangays Carosucan Sur, 32 for Toboy Riverside, 75
for Cabalitan, 13 for Dupac, and 79 for Calepaan.
Aside from the relief packs, they also gave PHP500 to Barangay Palaris, as well as
snacks and washable face masks for their community’s front-liners.
A group of 4Ps beneficiaries in Barangay San Leon, Balungao town has also donated
vegetables from their own garden to their 20 other beneficiaries. The group has its own
vegetable garden since 2017.
Pursuing this study was considered significant as the findings provided some
insights and information on Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) Act to the
following:
1. Implementing Agencies
The result of this study can be afforded information on their own performance. Whatever
weak points revealed in the result can be provided remediation and transform into
strengths.
This study serves as funnel and additional information about the advantages and
disadvantages as result of this study.
Through this, they will also try to reflect on the data being gathered and evaluate if what
factor is helpful to the beneficiaries for their development and this will be given more
emphasis. The fruitful success of the program lies in their hands as the one giving the
verdict of it.
2. Teachers
Through this study, the teacher can gain benefits in the sense that absenteeism of the
students will be alleviated. Thus, 4Ps will be their partner in developing and molding the
students into a better one.
This also served as guide to consider some factors in nurturing the students. Teachers
should consider the educational aspect as well as the economic aspect as factors that
determine student’s participation in the classroom and in outdoor activities.
Moreover, through this research, teachers will be buoyant to mug the undesirable
circumstances and make use of different tactics to motivate the child to do more with
fighting spirit in every trials that child may encounter along their way in school for them
to be able to continue enjoying the benefits of the program.
3. Parents
The study will help them realize that being beneficiaries of the program, it lessens their
financial responsibility in school, gives them the opportunity to develop confidence and
self-esteem and that the program has been their helping hand in providing ways and
means to alleviate poverty problems.
They will also realize that they are the most important people in child’s life and
responsible for the school payments and positive involvement and
Definition of terms
Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps). A conditional cash transfer sprogram that
provides incentives for poor families to invest in their future by ensuring that mothers
and children avail of healthcare and children go to school.
Conditional Cash Transfer Program (CCT). A program implemented where may cash
grant is given to eligible beneficiaries given that these beneficiaries comply with certain
conditions such as nutrition, education and family development sessions.
Poverty. Refers to the state of one who lacks a usual or social acceptable amount of
money or material possessions. (Merriam Webster Dictionary 2010)
Beneficiary. One who benefits or receives from the program. (Merriam Webster
Dictionary 2010)
Literacy Rate. Refers to the increase of number of individual learns how to read and
write. (Merriam Webster Dictionary 2010)
Dependent Variable. The factor which is observed and measured to detrmine the effect
of the independent variable.
Variable. A characteristic that has two or more actually exclusive values or properties.
F- test (Analysis of Variance or ANOVA). Used to test the significant difference of the
means of three or more independent samples. It takes into account two sources of
variations – from the between-group and from the within group.
Chapter 2
This chapter would present a summary of some related literature and studies that
have direct bearing with the present study.
I. BOOKS
A. Foreign
The “CCT programs address both future poverty, by fostering human capital
accumulation among the young as a means of breaking the intergenerational
transmission of poverty and current poverty, by providing income support for
consumption in the short run” (Rawlings & Rubio, 2005, p. 33). Indeed, the main
objective of the 4Ps and other CCT programs is to prevent inter-generational
transference of poverty and help break the infinite cycle of poverty by providing the
children the suitable educational and health assistance so as to help them develop the
facilities for a better future. Investing in children’s human capital and ensuring that they
grow into educated and healthy adults, is the equivalent of teaching them how to fish.
Healthy, educated children ultimately have more choices in life and are able to become
productive members of society (Bloom, 2008).
Furthermore, the implementation of the 4Ps lessens the incidence of child labor
and other forms of child abuse. In cases of the other CCT programs implemented in
other countries, there are two interrelated mechanisms found to help combat child labor.
First, through their cash subsidy component, schooling’s directs costs are reduced,
thereby inducing families to send their children to school, as opposed to work. Second,
these programs require families to have their children attend school, 85% of the school
days per month in the case of the 4Ps, in exchange to cash subsidy. This requirement
increases the time children spend in school and reduces the time they can allocate to
work (Gee, 2010).
Like any other government program, the 4Ps also have its disadvantages that
may encumber its helpful benefits. One of the most crucial characteristic of the 4Ps and
other CCT programs implemented in other countries is its being a ‘demand-side’
intervention instead of being a ‘supply-side’ intervention. That is, in order to be
considered as a beneficiary of the program, one must concede with the government’s
demands and conditionality’s (Coady & Parker, 2002). This is remarkably notable in the
conditions concerning education and health services where the beneficiaries being
brought into the education and health services system instead of expanding the
education and health systems in order to reach them.
The 4Ps will also encounter some difficulties in achieving support from the other
social classes, mainly because it does not benefit middle-income groups which have
also been steadily affected by limited universal services and decreases in employment
(Cuesta, 2007). These middle-income groups are also suffering from issues of poverty
and limited access to educational and health benefit, but assure not included in the
target population of the 4Ps. The 4Ps is programmed to help only the extremely poor.
Another major disadvantage of the 4Ps implementation is that it requires a huge amount
of finance which we do not have at the present. The 4Ps is a loan driven program, much
of the funds constituting the conditional cash grants given to beneficiaries are generated
from loans abroad, particularly from the United States. By the tail-end of August 2010,
the Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a US$400 million loan specifically for the
4Ps which will run from 2011 to 2014. This comprises 45.2 per cent of the total cost of
US$884.2 million, where US$484 million serves as the government’s counterpart.
Having ADB’s US$400 million in addition to the World Bank’s US$405 million, makes
two-thirds of the whole 4Ps from 2009 to 2014 comprised of loans (Somera, 2010, p. 6).
Arguments against the 4Ps point out that despite the large amounts of financial
resources needed to implement the program; it does not generate guaranteed returns to
the economy as much as infrastructure projects like construction of roads, bridges, and
railways do.
However, the World Bank panel of experts reviewed the existing evidence of the
real impacts of CCT programs in 2009 found some mixed results. While the programs
helped reduce extreme poverty rates, increase in school attendance did not necessarily
result in better learning outcomes, nor did improved utilization of public health services
translate into better health.
The analysis of Claudhury and Okamura (2012) on CCT and school enrolment in
the Philippines found an almost 9 percent increase in the enrolment among the younger
cohort aged 9-12 (as of 2012) who were eligible for grants under the program
throughout 2008 and 2011. The program was to help address the education gap
between beneficiary and non-beneficiary households in a short amount of time.
However, no statistically significant impact was found for the order cohort of children
aged 13-17(as of 2011), most of who were no longer eligible for grants due to the age
limit (14 years) set by the program. The researchers suggested that additional
measures (e.g., raising the age limit, increasing the grant amount for older children,
parallel supply-side interventions in the education section) are required to improved
educational outcomes for older children.
Continuing policy debates concerning design of anti-poverty programs in both
developed and a developing country frequently include the question of whether or not
transfer should be conditioned on school enrolment or medical check-up for children.
The conditionality of transfers raises enforcement problems (i.e., verifying that required
conditions are being met), as well as administrative problems of coordinating schooling,
medical and anti-poverty programs. These would be justified only if there were
substantial benefits of retaining this conditionality’s. Yes, there appear to be no clear
demonstration of the nature of these benefits, other theoretically or empirically. (Mook
Herjee and Ray 2008).
B. Local
Accordingly, people are poor not just because of a lack of economic resources to
satisfy basic needs, but also because they live in a social, economic and political
system which does not provide equality of opportunities. The 4Ps intend to provide the
basis for this much needed equality by providing the poor people with the education that
they could not access otherwise.
A. Foreign
In the long run, the 4Ps as well as the other CCT programs, aims to establish
social equality and mobility through education. As mentioned by Gundlach, Navarro de
Pablo, & Weiser (2010), the centrality of education in poverty-reduction policies stems
from the belief that education is a powerful equalizer and the main asset of most people.
Sen & Dreze (as cited by Calvo, 2011) incorporates the notion of inequality and social
exclusion as obstacles for the construction of a system of rights and opportunities.
Accordingly, people are poor not just because of a lack of economic resources to satisfy
basic needs, but also because they live in a social, economic and political system which
does not provide equality of opportunities. The 4Ps intend to provide the basis for this
much needed equality by providing the poor people with the education that they could
not access otherwise.
So each constraint is the product of a fairly small number of claimants. But there
are so many of us, and such a diversity of interests among us, that modest individual
demands result in great stacks of official paper and bewildering procedural mazes. Let
me illustrate this contention by reviewing the effects of just two properties we have tried
to infuse into our government: compassion and representativeness. Each of these is a
cluster of attributes, not a single simple trait. And they are only two such clusters among
many. But they account for a storm of complaints about red tape(the scientist
magazine., 2016).
In the study conducted on the CCT experience in Ecuador many, but not all, CCT
programs have a positive effect on education and health outcomes. Favorable
education outcomes were drawn mostly from experience of Progresa as evaluated by
the International Food Policy Research Institute. The evaluation of Progresa showed
that there was a significant increase in the enrolment of boys and girls, particularly the
latter. The program also increased enrolment in secondary schools by 6 and 9
percentage points for boys and girls, respectively. For girls, who often dropped out
before the secondary school, the transition rate to secondary school rose by 15
percentage points. Besides Progresa, CCT programs in other countries e.g. Columbia
and Turkey) have been successful in improving enrolment rates, particularly at the
secondary level. CCT programs in Bangladesh and Nicaragua significantly raised
primary enrolment by 9 and 13 percentage points, respectively (the inquirer,2000).
B. Local
In the light of findings derived from the study of Hyun H. Son and Jhiedon Florentino
(2009) the following conclusions were deduced:
First, conditionality plays imperative role in CCT programs. Cash transfer, by itself, will not
suffice to increase school attendance significantly, which means that conditionality would have
to be introduced. Possibly also, the quality of schooling would have to be improved when
administering any such cash transfer programs aimed at a sustained reduction in poverty.
Second, the emphasis on targeting helps maximize the program’s impact and
effectiveness. The results showed that the targeted CCT program would lead to greater school
attendance and poverty reduction. However, targeting and monitoring can increase the cost per
beneficiary, which reduces the programs efficiently. However designing a program with a weak
or nonexistent targeting strategy not only reduces the transfer cost per beneficiary but also
leads to linkages to the no poor, driving down its impact and effectiveness.
Third, to ensure success complementing CCT programs with other components of social
policy may prove meritorious. Complementary programs that can manage the supply side of
services- such as high transportation costs and quality of teaching-and accommodate the
heterogeneity of targeted household behavior will enhance the effectiveness of CCT programs,
including the PPP program in the Philippines.
Celia M. Reyes and Alebrey D. Labuya (2009) on the other hand concluded that it is
critical that an impact monitoring and be done at this poverty stage to improve the mechanisms
of identifying the beneficiaries to minimize leakages and exclusion, address loopholes in the
system to avoid wastage of scarce resources, and address the supply side deficiencies. The
4Ps is such an important and expensive program and going on hastily with further expansion
with all these concerns is the last thing as poverty-stricken, budget-contained and highly
indebted country like the Philippines should be doing.
III.INTERNET SOURCE
A. Foreign
Low weight-for-height is known as wasting. It usually indicates recent and severe weight
loss, because a person has not had enough food to eat and/or they have had an infectious
disease, such as diarrhoea, which has caused them to lose weight. A young child who is
moderately or severely wasted has an increased risk of death, but treatment is possible.
Low height-for-age is known as stunting. It is the result of chronic or recurrent
undernutrition, usually associated with poor socioeconomic conditions, poor maternal health and
nutrition, frequent illness, and/or inappropriate infant and young child feeding and care in early
life. Stunting holds children back from reaching their physical and cognitive potential. Children
with low weight-for-age are known as underweight. A child who is underweight may be stunted,
wasted, or both(https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/malnutrition)
Malnutrition impacts one in every three people globally. Forty-five per cent of all
deaths in young children can be attributed to poor nutrition. Hunger isn’t the only issue.
While 462 million of the world’s adults are underweight, nearly two billion are
overweight.
Without good nutrition, neither people nor societies can reach their full potential.
The cycle of poverty and inequality continues within families, communities and
countries. Of those with chronic hunger, 60 per cent are women and girls.
B. Local
UNICEF helps the Philippine government deliver services and systems that give every
child a fair chance in life. From the first 1,000 days of a child’s life (from pregnancy to 2 years
old) to their adolescence, we work with our partners to deliver inclusive access to age-
appropriate, culturally sensitive, gender-responsive and disaster-resilient health, nutrition, and
water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programmes and interventions, including in emergency
situations, especially for the most vulnerable children, adolescents and women.
In the Philippines poverty and pervasive malnutrition are not limited to families of
deprived seasonal workers. Undernourishment is endemic and increasing throughout
most of this archipelago of some 7100 islands, and is compounded by the prevalence of
intestinal parasites and gastrointestinal diseases which health workers estimate deprive
youngsters of at least 5-10% of the nutritional value in food they do consume. This
problem is particularly prevalent in rural villages and city slums where many people eat
with their fingers. According to the Philippine Ministry of Health, nearly 1/2 of all
reported deaths are among infants and children through age 4, and about 1/2 of the
accelerated death rate among those age 5 and younger is related to malnutrition,
compounded by diarrhea, measles, and malaria which is returning to areas where it
once was almost eradicated. 3 factors critically affect a newborn's survival prospects:
the family size he or she is born into; the time or spacing between the mother's
pregnancies; and the child's birth order. Evidence indicates that, during the 1970s, as
US aid and other family planning assistance became available, they were used most
among families in the 2 highest income classes, where reduction of family size is under
way. Poverty is the most fundamental cause of malnutrition, although many other
factors contribute. Land reform has brought security of tenure and increasingly is
transferring ownership of fields to former tenants of rice and corn lands. For the former
tenants enhanced security brings greater income and better eating for the farm families
retain more of the crop. The undernourished and truly poor of the Philippines number
about 1/2 of the population. Although dispersed throughout most of the archipelago,
there are important regional differences. These related to marked geographic patterns
that affect fertility of the soil, length of the dry season, fortunes of predominant crops,
vulnerability to destructive typhoons, chronic warfare and other endemic lawlessness,
major debilitating diseases, and especially population pressure. Malnutrition is not a
hidden problem. The government, almost since the proclamation of 1972 martial law,
has campaigned against malnutrition. During the 1970s, the government developed a
major program of expanded production with the result that rice production expanded
substantially. Even this achievement leaves the average Filipino short by 300 calories of
food intake per day. It is not jiggering with food aid or government price incentives that
will assure that future Filipinos will have enough to eat. Only a productive revolution of
rural life that also educates mothers to know what makes for sound family nutrition will
be adequate(https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12264685/)
Chapter 3
In this chapter, the researcher would present the description of the research
method used, a profile of respondents, the instruments used to gather data, the data-
gathering and the statistical treatment of data.
The descriptive survey-method was used in this investigation with the primary
purpose of ascertaining conditions, which were common among the population of the
study. The researcher made use of the questionnaire-checklist and simple interview as
the instrument gathering the data needed for the study.
The Respondents
There are 100 persons who acted as a respondents for this study, namely:
Table 1
Distribution of the Respondents of the study
Respondents Number of Respondents
Barangay Social Worker 25
City Hall Employee 25
Poor Family 50
Sub-Total 100
Retrieval of the questionnaire from the respondents was 100 percent since the
researchers administered the data-gathering instrument personally.
Ranking was used specifically to denote the hierarchieal importance of the data
based on the number of responses or respondents.
Paradigm of the Study
I
INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT
Questionnaire and Tabulation Profile of the
preparation of Analysis and Respondents
interview guide Interpretation of
Data Contributing
Distribution of Factors
questionnaires and
interview of key Proposed strategies
personalities to continuously
prevent the red-tape