The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program is a human development program of the national government that invests in the health and education of poor households, particularly of children aged 0-18 years old. Patterned after the conditional cash transfer scheme implemented in other developing countries, the Pantawid Pamilya provides cash grants to beneficiaries provided that they comply with the set of conditions required by the Program.
Pantawid Pamilya provides immediate relief from difficulties that often push families to sacrifice their future to survive the present. As such, it addresses inter-generational poverty that afflicts many families in the Philippines.
In Northern Mindanao, Pantawid Pamilya is being implemented in 9 cities, 84 municipalities and 2,022 barangays in five provinces.
Who are qualified for Pantawid Pamilya?
- Must be classified as poor, based on “Listahanan,” the National Household Targeting System of the national government which is developed by the DSWD.
- Have a pregnant woman and/or children 0-14 years old as household member(s)
Thus, being included in the Listahanan does not automatically qualify a household for Pantawid Pamilya. In the same manner, not all households with a pregnant woman or young children as members will qualify for the Program.
What are the conditions of the Pantawid Pamilya?
- Health and nutrition conditions:
- Periodic checkups, growth monitoring, and vaccinations for children 0-5 years of age
- Twice a year intake of de-worming pills for children 6-14 years old, pre- and post-natal care for pregnant women and attendance of parents in family development sessions where responsible parenthood is discussed
- Education conditions:
- Day-care and school enrollment, attendance equivalent to 85 percent of school days for children 3-14 years old
Both conditions are meant to improve the poor household’s economic prospects to help them move out of poverty.
What does Pantawid Pamilya offer to households?
- Households that comply with all the health conditions will receive P500 per month
- Households that comply with the education conditions will receive P300 per child per month. Up to three qualified children can benefit from the education grant. Education grants will only be given during months with classes.
The cash grants, which are given every two months, will be received directly by household beneficiaries through their Land Bank cash cards or through over-the-counter payments at Land Bank branches. The Land Bank also utilizes other modes to distribute the cash in hard-to-reach areas such as off-site payment, and G-cash remit, Philippine Postal Corporation, Cooperative Financial Institutions (CFI), First Consolidated Bank and other rural banks.
What are the systems set up by DSWD to make Pantawid Pamilya work?
- Compliance Verification System – is a verification tool to report compliance of the beneficiaries based on the conditionalities set by the program such as school attendance for education and regular/preventive health check-up for pregnant women and children 0-5 year old, attendance of parent/s to FDS and deworming of children aged 6-14 at least twice a year.
- Beneficiary Update System – has the primary purpose to gather, validate, report and record the changes that have occurred on the status of condition of Grantee, children 0-14 years old and pregnant women in the beneficiary household while under the program regular reporting from beneficiaries on changes in household information such as new school enrollment or changes in health centers and other information that could affect the amount of cash grants they are entitled to receive. Updating information in the database is important as update errors may result in errors in compliance verification and consequently, deduction of grants.
- Grievance Redress System – a process by which complaints and queries are captured and resolved. The GRS provide various mode of filling their queries and complaints. Grievances may be reported through the text hotline, written report addressed to the DSWD Field Office, Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, and E-mail). Grievances are addressed and solved at the national, regional, provincial, and municipal levels depending on the type of complaint.