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Bacolod City, Philippines Friday, June 29, 2012
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Negros getting P1.7B
boost from 4Ps drive

BY CARLA GOMEZ

The 4Ps (Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program) is bringing P1.7 billion in cash grants to 104,097 beneficiaries in Negros Occidental this year, which will also help pump prime the province’s economy, Provincial Social Welfare and Development Officer Liane Garcia said yesterday.

The 4Ps is a human development program of the national government that provides conditional cash grants to extremely poor households to improve their health, nutrition and education, particularly of children aged 0-14, she said.

Garcia said the allocation for Negros Occidental this year is the largest ever received by the province and the biggest among the provinces in Western Visayas.

Each household will receive P1,400 a month or P145.7 million for the entire Negros Occidental monthly, she said.

Local government officials have informed us that the cash infused into their areas through the 4Ps has improved the economic condition of their communities, Garcia said.

The poorest households in the towns are selected for coverage through the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction implemented by the Department of Social Welfare and Development, she said.

To avail of the cash grants, beneficiaries should comply with the following conditions: Pregnant women must avail of pre- and post-natal care and be attended during childbirth by a trained health professional; Parents must attend Family Development Sessions;

Children who are 0 to 5 years old must also receive regular preventive health check-ups and vaccines; 3 to 5-year-old children must attend daycare or pre-school classes at least 85 percent of the time; 6 to 14-year-old children must enroll in elementary or high school and must attend at least 85 percent of the time; and 6 to 14 years old children must receive deworming pills twice a year, she said.

Violators of the 4Ps conditions are expelled from the program, Garcia said. In Negros Occidental, only 200 have been expelled since the program started in 2008, she added.

Recently, 126 students in Negros Occidental have also qualified for the 4Ps college scholarship programs in state universities, Garcia said.

She said 169 personnel have been hired to ensure beneficiaries’ compliance of the program.

There is a lack of social workers needed for such jobs, so some of those hired are nursing graduates or holders of other degrees, she said.

Those who are not social workers have to be retrained for their 4Ps jobs, she said.

Garcia said she hopes more students study to become social workers because there is a need for them.*CPG

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