Davao City (PIA) – Social Welfare and Development Secretary Rolando Bautista announced the department’s prioritization on the cleansing of the list of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) beneficiaries.
Attending the 68th Anniversary program of the DSWD Region XI last Mar. 11 at the Davao Convention and Trade Center, Bautista bared stringent measures are in place as the department aims to remove beneficiaries who are not suppose to receive monthly social assistance.
“We have received so many complaints thru 888 claiming that there are many beneficiaries who should be removed from the list. We appreciate these information and so we can verify these people,” he said.
The official mentioned the Proximean test which will determine the actual economic status level of a person.
He added though that implementation of these measures will only start upon the signing of the 2019 General Appropriations Bill.
“Not until the 2019 budget is approved, these activities related to the cleansing of the list will be implemented on the ground.”
The department is also set to finalize an agreement with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) to help the office carry out social service delivery to the grassroots.
“First, the agreement will enable uniformed men to provide security of our social workers as they do their validation and assessment in Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas (GIDA). This will not just cover the 4Ps program but all other programs of the DSWD,” he said.
The agreement will also contain the provision of space for the prepositioning of relief goods per guidance of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte. The President directed that prepositioning of relief goods should no longer be in local government unit facilities as these are often used for political ambitions.
“We will also be requesting to use air assets, water and land assets to preposition relief goods to ensure efficiency of the delivery of goods to affected areas,” the Secretary said.