Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program

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Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program
4ps-logo.png
Commercial?No (Government)
Type of project Conditional cash transfer
Owner Department of Social Welfare and Development
Country Philippines
StatusActive

Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (English: Bridging Program for the Filipino Family), also known as 4Ps and formerly Bangon Pamilyang Pilipino, is a conditional cash transfer program of the Philippine government under the Department of Social Welfare and Development. [1] It aims to eradicate extreme poverty in the Philippines by investing in health and education particularly in ages 0–18. [2] It is patterned on programs in other developing countries like Brazil (Bolsa Familia) and Mexico (Oportunidades). [3] As of June 25, 2024, the 4Ps program operates in 17 regions, 79 provinces and 1,484 municipalities and 143 key cities covering 4,090,667 household beneficiaries.

Contents

The 2019 measure, which institutionalizes the 4Ps cash transfer program, was principally authored by Senator Leila de Lima, [4] and co-authored by Senator Risa Hontiveros. [5] In April 2019, President Rodrigo Duterte signed the measure into law. [6] [7]

Program structure

Objective

The program focused on these objectives:

  1. Social development: by investing in capability-building, the program will be able to break the intergenerational poverty cycle.
  2. Social assistance: provide cash assistance to address beneficiaries' short-term financial needs.

Eligibility

The poorest among poor families as identified by a 2003 Small Area Estimate (SAE) survey from the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) are eligible. The poorest among the poor are selected through a proxy-means test. [8] Economic indicators such as ownership of assets, type of housing, education of the household head, livelihood of the family and access to water and sanitation facilities are proxy variables to indicate the family economic category. [9] Additional qualifications for households include having children 0–14 years old and/or pregnant women during the assessment. Applicants must agree on all the conditions set by the government to enter the program.[ citation needed ]

Criticism

Certain entitites had derided the program (among other similar ones offered by the Government of the Philippines) as causing the recipients to lose incentive to strive hard and just wait for the payouts, [10] [11] [12] that in the words of Ramon Tulfo, "it promotes sloth, indolence or laziness among the lower sectors of society." [13]

References

  1. "Malacanang happy over success of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program". Manila Bulletin . Retrieved October 28, 2012.
  2. "Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) Philippines - Improving the Human Capital of the Poor (Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 10, 2013. Retrieved October 28, 2012.
  3. Ambat, Ms. G.H.S. (ed.), "Policy Brief", Improving inclusiveness of growth through CCTs, S E N A T E E C O N O M I C P L A N N I N G O F F I C E
  4. "Press Release - De Lima appeals to Senate leadership to pass 4Ps bill". Archived from the original on December 2, 2024. Retrieved August 28, 2025.
  5. "HON. SENATOR RISA HONTIVEROS | Senate Electoral Tribunal". www.set.gov.ph. Retrieved August 28, 2025.
  6. Reganit, Jose Cielito (May 30, 2019). "New 4Ps law boosts Duterte admin's anti-poverty efforts". Philippine News Agency. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  7. Cruz, Maricel; Ramos-Araneta, Macon (May 23, 2019). "Duterte lauded for signing institutionalized 4Ps bill into law". Manila Standard. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  8. Grosh, Margaret E.; Baker, Judy L. (1995). Proxy Means Tests for Targeting Social Programs. doi:10.1596/0-8213-3313-5. ISBN   978-0-8213-3313-6.
  9. "Philippine Poverty Microscopes: National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) and Community Based Monitoring System (CBMS)". Archived from the original on November 1, 2012. Retrieved November 5, 2012.
  10. Magno, Alexander (March 7, 2025). "Lacson: Mga Filipino tamad nang magtrabaho dahil sa mga ayuda?".
  11. "Philippines Life. No Warning And Everything Is Taken Away From You. Credit Is A Way Of Life Here". March 31, 2025 via YouTube.
  12. "4Ps NAKATUTULONG BA O NAGTUTURO NG PAGIGING TAMAD? - SAKSI NGAYON". November 9, 2022.
  13. "Problems with 4Ps | Philstar.com". www.philstar.com. Retrieved August 28, 2025.