The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) started conditional cash grants distribution through the Philippine Veterans Bank (PVB) earlier today, December 27, 2017, at the Palo Municipal Hall grounds.

The said payout is for around 1,853 program household beneficiaries of 4Ps without the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) cash cards, under both the said program’s Regular Conditional Cash Transfer (RCCT) and Modified Conditional Cash Transfer (MCCT), from the 23 barangays of the municipality of Palo, Leyte.

The grants they are going to receive cover this year’s Periods 3 (June-July) and 4 (August-September).

To note, the said cash grants are distributed directly to the beneficiaries from the bank or partner conduits.

Previously, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) partnered with the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) alone to distribute cash grants to program beneficiaries where they are located, through several modes of payment including Cash Cards (CC), Over the Counter (OTC), and offsite payouts carried out by partner conduits selected through a bidding process conducted by LBP.

However, due to the rapid expanding needs of the program payout, DSWD started to explore additional partnership with another qualified and interested approved government depository banks aside from LBP to facilitate conditional cash grants distribution.

Subsequently, DSWD through 4Ps partnered with the Philippine Veterans Bank (PVB) which is a private medium-sized commercial bank owned by over 400,000 Filipino World War II veterans and their families. The bank caters to both corporate and retail financial markets and is also an authorized government depository.

Today, PVB payout process started with verification of basic information of the beneficiaries, signing of Client Information Form (CIF), handing of pin mailer and the release of the PVB All-in-One Card to the latter by PVB staff. Then the beneficiaries proceed to another table for photo capturing and signing of their cards.

The said PVB All-in-One Card is a multi-purpose ATM/ID card offering the convenience of using just one card for the beneficiaries’ needs. The card can be used as Pantawid ID, PhilHealth ID, a regular ATM card to withdraw cash, do balance inquiries, and make payments via ATMs accessible via BancNet, Megalink, and ExpressNet. Moreover, the card can be used as a debit card for purchase at accredited point-of-sale (POS) terminals supplied by the bank.

“Salamat kay dako gud ini na bulig ha amon pamilya,” expressed 4Ps grantee Ma. Teresa Raquiza from Brgy. Anahaway, Palo, Leyte, who has 10 children and 2 of whom are the children beneficiaries.

Teresa then shared that while there was no payout, she continued to strive hard and work on various jobs, including washing clothes for other people and helping her husband in the farm to earn some money for their daily living.

Payout was supposed to be conducted early December but was rescheduled today due to unforeseeable circumstances like the typhoon Urduja and the succeeding disaster operations.

Present during today’s payout were the 4Ps Finance team, Municipal Links with their Social Welfare Assistant and Municipal Roving Bookkeeper, and other staff headed by Regional Program Coordinator Paula Unay and Leyte Provincial Link Susana Rostata. Together with them from the national office were DSWD Unified Financial Management Unit (UFMU) Director Natividad Canlas, UFMU Chief Administrative Officer Mary Antoinette Duero, and 4Ps Beneficiary Data Management Division representative Alnair Espinosa, PVB representatives Macvin Rodelas and Jocelyn Apora, and some peace officers assigned by the local government unit of Palo.

“We continue to earnestly work on the enhancements of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program to ensure the compliance of beneficiaries to program conditions and to facilitate distribution of the grants, especially for the needs of the children. Also, we advise our other grantees to coordinate with assigned City and Municipal Links for their respective payout schedules and other concerns relative to the program implementation,” said RPC Paula Unay.

Tomorrow, December 28 2017, the payout will continue serving the other 700 household beneficiaries from 10 barangays of Palo, to be followed by those coming from the municipality of Tanauan, Leyte, and the rest of the provinces in Region VIII Eastern Visayas.

4Ps is a program of the national government that invests in human capital by helping ensure that 0-18 years old children from identified poor households grow healthy and are able to study well.

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