THE DEPARTMENT of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Davao warned Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) beneficiaries of delisting if they are caught pawning their cash cards.
During the Margie Sobretodo, 4PS/Events committee head division chief, said erring beneficiaries will be issued a verbal warning for the first offense and then a letter of notice.
For the second offense, their allocations will be suspended for at least two months.
After the third violation, if they cannot provide the cash card during the time of the visit, they will be recommended for delisting.
“The delisting process cannot be rectified. They cannot be enrolled back into the program even if they promise the DSWD they will not do the act again,” Sobretodo said.
She said a case management process will be undertaken to ensure the children are protected in the process.
“It’s not just that the grantee will be delisted from the program, but the children who are actually benefiting from the program,” she added.
According to DSWD data gathering, most beneficiaries are drawn to pawn their cash cards due to emergency cases, such as illness in family members.
Sobretodo said the DSWD only provides cash grant assistance to address the social assistance area of the program, but they are collaborating with the local government units and other stakeholders in the aspect of social development.
“DSWD does not have the resources to provide interventions for the beneficiaries in terms of economic sufficiency, livelihood, and income. So we connect with DOLE, TESDA, DTI, and other agencies that provide livelihood programs,” she added.
Under the Grievance Redress System guidelines on beneficiary misconduct, cash cards are not allowed to be used as collateral in loans.
“Inappropriate utilization of the grants, such as pawning, using them as collateral, selling Cash Cards and/or Pantawid Pamilya IDs, and spending grants for purposes other than those intended for the education and health needs of the family, are all subject to appropriate sanctions,” the approved policy of the Pantawid National Advisory Committee (NAC) stated.
Every month, under the education area, DSWD provides P300 for Daycare, P500 for elementary and junior high school, and P700 for SHS.
For health and family development sessions, DSWD provides P750, while the F1KD for pregnant women and children 0-2 years old will be expanded from P350 to P750 and rice subsidy of P600.
The DSWD is promoting GCash and other e-wallets in the release of the cash grants.
