80K moms under 4Ps get P350 aid
Starting this month, some 80,000 pregnant and lactating women who are beneficiaries of the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) will get a P350 monthly cash incentive for their prenatal and postnatal needs.
Director Gemma Gabuya of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said on Thursday that under “The First 1,000 Days, an extra cash grant under the 4Ps” program, the P350 incentive would be on top of the current cash assistance for households enrolled in the 4Ps but for just a limited time. Beneficiaries would receive the money from the start of pregnancy (nine months) until the first two years of their child or a total of 1,000 days.
The DSWD said it intended to distribute the incentive for January and February starting at the end of the month until the second week of next month. The next tranche would be given out every two months.
No politicians
In the midst of controversies surrounding other DSWD social assistance projects, Gabuya assured the public that politicians would have no role in the distribution as the assistance would be remitted straight into the ATM accounts of eligible beneficiaries.
Flagship projects of the DSWD, including the 4Ps, utilize ATMs or electronic cards in transferring financial aid to grantees. Other programs such as the Ayuda para sa Kapos ang Kita Program (Akap) and the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations are usually given in cash to the beneficiaries as one-time payouts.
The program which was proposed by the DSWD last year would not discriminate against minors as it would also cover teenage mothers, according to Gabuya, the program manager.
But she stressed that it should not encourage women under the 4Ps program to get pregnant just to receive the extra P350, noting that the amount alone was “not enough” to raise a child and meant only to augment the budget for health services.
Program’s objectives
“It is clear that the objective (of the grant) is to focus on and boost the health interventions of pregnant women…this is the most critical stage in providing the right interventions for a child,” Gabuya said in a news briefing.
The government, she added, also wants to prevent cases of stunting and malnutrition among underprivileged Filipino youth.
The National Nutrition Council earlier said that a child’s first 1,000 days was considered the “golden window of opportunity” for them to get proper and sufficient nutrition to prevent stunting and ensure good health. It is also a critical period for mothers to consume nutritious food that would be of benefit to her baby’s development, according to the World Health Organization.
Citing DSWD data, Gabuya said that around 80,000 mothers were qualified to receive the additional incentive, around 20,000 of whom were pregnant. The rest have children below two years of age.
The initial amount proposed was P400 but it went down to P350 due to an updated computation made by the National Economic and Development Authority, Gabuya explained.
