The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is currently preparing for the second nationwide social welfare assessment among beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, better known as 4Ps.

This is to determine the level of well-being of the beneficiaries after a decade of interventions thru the program implementation. The Social Welfare and Development Indicator (SWDI) administration will determine whether a family beneficiary is still in the survival, subsistence, or self-sufficient state.

Survival is defined as the condition where there is lack of inner and external resources which make households unable to resolve problems and survive in a daily basis. Subsistence is a condition that opens some resources and alternatives to the beneficiaries to surpass basic daily needs, while Self-sufficiency means the households already have other sources of income and can already stand without interventions from the government. 

“Kailangan nating malaman kung ano na ang kalagayan ng ating mga beneficiaries at kung anong tamang intervention ang pwede pang ibigay sa kanila para maging self-sufficient. (We need to know the state of well-being of our beneficiaries and determine appropriate interventions for them to reach self-sufficiency),” Regional Program Coordinator, Ms. Flordeliza A. Atuy said during the orientation with program staff in Region 9. 

Other than determining the level of well-being of the beneficiaries, the SWDI is also a tool that will help the Department identify the needs and capabilities of the partner-beneficiaries to be able to provide interventions for the improvement of their lives not just from the DSWD but from the other social service providers as well.

The Regional Program Management Office (RPMO) of the Pantawid Pamilya currently conducts orientation and information dissemination for awareness about the upcoming household assessment.

The first SWDI administration, which was conducted in 2015, revealed that among the (then) 279,212 household beneficiaries, 229,375 or 82% of the total 4Ps household population in region 9 have improved condition of life since their enrollment to the program.

Pantawid Pamilya targets to administer the SWDI tool to 312,000 active beneficiaries both from the Regular Conditional Cash Transfer Program (RCCT) and the Modified Conditional Cash Transfer Program (MCCT) in region 9.

The total budget for the administration in the entire Zamboanga Peninsula is 19 million which covers expenses on orientation, hiring of enumerators, encoders, and other operational expenses. The DSWD field office IX has requested for an additional of 5 million pesos for augmentation.

The SWDI administration is targeted to be conducted for 3 months starting end of September to December this year.

Pantawid Pamilya is a social protection program of the national government that invests in the health and education of poor households primarily of children aged 0-18 and pregnant women. Program beneficiaries receive cash grants as they comply with the program conditions applicable to their households. The conditions are: pregnant women must avail pre and post-natal care and be attended during childbirth by a trained health professional; parents must attend Family Development Sessions (FDS); 0-5 years old children must receive regular preventive health check-ups and vaccines; 6-14 years old children must receive deworming pills twice a year; and children beneficiaries (0-18 years old) must enroll in school and maintain a class attendance of at least 85% per month. As of May 2018, there are 4.39 million active households in the program nationwide.