IP FAMILIES IN 4Ps. Department of Social Welfare and Development Caraga Director Mita Chuchi Gupana-Lim says that a total of 28,615 indigenous people families in the region have already availed of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) of the agency, during an interview with reporters on Friday (Dec. 13, 2019). She added that more than PHP3.44 billion were already released to 174,192 household beneficiaries in the whole of Caraga Region this year. (PNA photo by Alexander Lopez)
BUTUAN CITY – The indigenous peoples (IPs) are among the priority sectors that the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Caraga Region (DSWD-13) has given attention to, particularly in the provision of support programs and services of the agency.
As of October 21, 2019, a total of 28,615 IP households have already availed of the aid from the agency through the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), said DSWD-13 Director Mita Chuchi Gupana-Lim.
Lim told reporters on Friday (December 13) that the provision of support to the IPs in the region was coursed through the regular 4Ps program and the Modified Conditional Cash Transfer (MCCT) program.
Of the 28,615 IP families listed as beneficiaries this year in the region, 18,545 were granted aid through the regular 4Ps program, 10,048 were provided support through the MCCT program, and 22 IP households were considered as HSF under the MCCT program, she added.
Among the major tribes in Caraga Region, most of the families that benefited from the program come from the Manobo tribe with 20,675 families, the Mandaya with 2,791, Higaonon with 2,618, Mamanwa with 1,330, and Banwaon with 763.
The remaining numbers of the total IP beneficiaries are distributed to the different sub-tribes residing in the region.
Most of the IP households that received aid through the regular 4Ps and the MCCT program are from the province of Agusan del Sur with 16,770 households, followed by Surigao del Sur with 6,865, Agusan del Norte with 4,379, Surigao del Norte with 588, and the Province of Dinagat Islands with 13.
4Ps not a dole-out
Lim clarified that the 4Ps program of the government through the DSWD is not a dole-out as what the critics of the government claimed.
“The 4Ps program is addressing the health and education needs of poor families in the country and there are conditions set the beneficiaries. By addressing the health and education issues and the setting of conditions to the beneficiaries, then we can say that the 4Ps program is not a dole-out, as others claimed,” she said.
Lim added that among the conditions set to the beneficiaries include the regular attendance of their children to school, the pre-natal for pregnant mothers, and the immunization of their children.
She said that for 2019, a total of 174,192 households in the Caraga Region have already benefited from the 4Ps program.
Aside from the IPs and the other sectors, included in the count are the 18,010 senior citizens that continue to take care of their grandchildren, 4,254 persons with disabilities (PWDs), and 6,909 solo parents.
“For this year, DSWD-Caraga is already 98.46 percent compliant on the education aspect of the program and 99.57 percent compliant on health,” Lim said.
A total of P3,443,959,800 cash was already released to all the beneficiaries of 4Ps in Caraga Region this year, she added. (PNA)
