OFFICIAL STATEMENT ON THE CAUSE OF DELAY OF RELEASING CASH GRANTS TO THE BENEFICIARIES OF PANTAWID PAMILYANG PILIPINO PROGRAM
July 12, 2017

We at the Department of Social Welfare and Development Field Office X have heard the clamor of the beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) regarding the delay of the release of cash grant which was supposed to be paid out to them every two months.

The cause of the delay of payout and the recent postponement of the scheduled payouts was due to the problems encountered by the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) in finalizing its conduits which are responsible in the releasing of grants in the communities. The Land Bank of the Philippines has signed a Memorandum of Agreement with DSWD, as the institution solely responsible in the releasing of grants to the beneficiaries of 4Ps.

According to LBP, the identification of its supposed conduits in the releasing of cash grants has gone overdue because of problems encountered in their bidding and procurement processes, and submission of other pertinent documents necessary for the downloading of funds.

Thus, the payouts which was scheduled in the months of May and early July (schedules that fell from July 12-14) has been once again moved to August 1-4, 2017, which we regretfully believe will result to a negative impact to the lives of our beneficiaries.

The affected areas are as follows: (1) Lanao del Norte with Nunungan, Sapad, Kapatagan; (2) Misamis Oriental with Medina, Lagonglong, Laguindingan, Villanueva, Manticao, Balingoan, El Salvador City; (3) Bukidnon with Malaybalay City, Dangcagan, Lantapan, Manolo Fortitch, Maramag, Sumilao; Camiguin with Mahinog, Mambajao, Catarman, Guinsiliban, Sagay.

We are still waiting for feedback from LBP region 9 with regards to the finalization of RB Rizal as service provider for Misamis Occidental since the province is under their jurisdiction. With this, we cannot yet ascertain when the pay-outs will commence for the said province. For other areas not mentioned above, which are scheduled from July 18-28, 2017, we are happy to inform you that they shall proceed accordingly.

We have already made several follow-ups with the LBP to hasten its processes since we have seen the impact this delay had brought to the beneficiaries of the program. We are all set in providing the logistics and means to smoothen the payout process, however, we can only do so much since the cause of delay is beyond the control of the DSWD. We are currently closely coordinating with the LBP to resolve the issues at hand.

Most importantly, we understand how this challenge affected the lives of our poor families, who should be benefiting from 4Ps for their children’s education and health.

At this point, we ask for everyone’s patience, especially from the beneficiaries of 4Ps, as we will continue to look for ways to improve our service for them and to the people we serve.

(signed)

NESTOR B. RAMOS
Regional Director
DSWD Region 10