ZAMBOANGA CITY -The regional office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), together with 16 other regions in the country, simultaneously celebrated the 2nd year anniversary of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) today.
It can be recalled that the Republic Act 11310 or the 4Ps Act was passed into law last 2019.
As part of the celebration, a nationwide simultaneously graduation ceremony was held earlier today to recognize the family beneficiaries who are ready to exit from the program. Those that were not able to conduct face-to-face graduation ceremony were invited to attend the virtual graduation that was initiated by the national office.
Barcelona family from barangay San Roque represented Zamboanga Peninsula in the said ceremony.
“Hinde yo forever na Pantawid, sabe yo se. Life changing gayot el programa. Si nohay ese, no sabe yo si puede man enjoy mi maga anak el cosa sila tan enjoy ahora (I know that I will not stay in 4Ps forever. 4Ps is life changing. Without it, I don’t know if my children will be able to enjoy what they enjoy right now,)” Milagros Barcelona said.
Despite the constraints in mobility in the city, the regional program management office of 4Ps was still able to organize a graduation ceremony for the beneficiaries in Zamboanga City while abiding by the safety protocol particularly on No Mass Gathering policy.
As an initiative, the regional office went house-to-house among selected 4Ps beneficiaries in the city to personally present the households’ certificates of graduation. The house-to-house graduation was conducted last June 8 and 9.
turns over the certificate of recognition to the Barcelona family in San Roque.
In Zamboanga Peninsula, first batch of graduates who will soon move out of the program reaches a total of 5,080 households of which 867 are from Zamboanga-Isabela City, 550 households are from Zamboanga Sibugay, 1,211 are from Zamboanga Del Sur, and 2,452 households are from Zamboanga Del Norte.
Among the 5,080, there are 1,193 families who already reached level 3 or “self-sufficiency” in the last Social Welfare and Development Indicator (SWDI) assessment. This means that they can already stand on their own even without the support of the program.
Meanwhile, the Department also held a Gallery Walk activity in their office vicinity for passers-by and walk-in clients to be able to see the highlights of accomplishments and activities of the program since its institutionalization.
4Ps is the government’s major poverty alleviation program that invests in health, nutrition, and education of the poor eligible households. These alongside with the psychosocial and psycho-educational component provided through the Family Development Session (FDS) lead the beneficiaries to an improved and sustained well-being.
Among the program conditionalities include enrolment and attendance of children aged 4-18 in school; deworming of at least twice a year for children aged 6-14; pre and post-natal check-ups for women; preventive check-ups to children aged 5 and below and attendance to monthly FDS.
Currently, the program is being implemented nationwide covering more than 4.3 million households of which 287,165 are active households in Zamboanga Peninsula.
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