Eastern Visayas Media Without Borders
Tacloban City–House of Representatives Minority Leader Marcelino “Nonoy” Libanan has rejected proposals to abolish the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), stressing that conditional cash transfer programs—both in the Philippines and abroad—have long been proven effective in reducing poverty and improving health and education outcomes in disadvantaged communities.
“The 4Ps has consistently proven to be a powerful tool for building human capital—encouraging school attendance, promoting preventive health care, and ensuring better nutrition for children,” Libanan, a 4Ps Party-list representative, said in a statement on Sunday.
“The program works. We just need to give our poorest families a stronger push so they can stand on their own permanently,” Libanan added.
Libanan emphasized that the 4Ps cash grants are not handouts but incentives tied to conditions such as keeping children in school, undergoing regular health check-ups, and attending family development sessions.
His remarks came after Senator Erwin Tulfo urged the government to discontinue the program and instead provide livelihood capital to beneficiaries.
Libanan said he supports additional livelihood and skills training support for 4Ps households, as Tulfo suggested—but only as a complement, not a substitute, for the monthly education, health, and nutrition cash grants.
Launched as a pilot in 2008 under President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the 4Ps was expanded nationwide during the administration of President Benigno Aquino III.
It was made a permanent government program through Republic Act No. 11310, signed by President Rodrigo Duterte in 2019.
The 4Ps has an allocation of P64.2 billion in the 2025 General Appropriations Law, benefitting millions of poor families.
In his fourth State of the Nation Address, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. reported that over five million households have received 4Ps cash grants since he took office, with 1.5 million families “graduating” from poverty.
World Bank studies have consistently shown that conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs effectively reach the poorest and most vulnerable sectors.
CCTs have two key objectives: to provide immediate income support and alleviate poverty, and to eventually break the intergenerational cycle of poverty by investing in human capital.
The World Bank has been a long-time financial partner of the 4Ps in the Philippines, as well as similar CCT programs in Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia.
