Feature: CCT is the closest thing to a magic bullet in development – Monsod

“Give a man a fish and he will live for a day. Teach a man how to fish and he will live for a lifetime,” this is one of the best known quotes by the Taoist philosopher Lao Tzu.

This quote has often been cited in a number of negative feedbacks regarding the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or the famed “Conditional Cash Transfer Program” of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). Criticisms point out that the program promotes mendicancy, that it is costly, and palliative, and a doleout.

Professor Solita Monsod defends the program saying, “CCT is the closest thing to a magic bullet in development. There is a contract between the families and the government. The money goes directly to the poor.” Monsod is the vice-chairperson of 4Ps Independent Advisory Committee.

Program definition

What is really Pantawid Pamilya? How does this program identify their recipients? Isn’t the program just a band-aid fix and will not really address the root cause of poverty in families? Why is the Philippine Government even bothering implementing a program if its investments will end up futile?

Practiced in over 40 countries worldwide, the Philippines has benchmarked the “Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT)” program and called it the “Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program” (formerly known as 4Ps) which has the same goals of breaking the intergenerational cycle of poverty by providing cash grants to identified poor households in the country to help improve the health, nutrition and education especially of children aged 0 to 14 years old. The families must then comply with the program conditions on health, nutrition, education and family development sessions prior to getting their grants.

The program has dual objectives. One is for Social Assistance, that is, to provide cash assistance to the poor to alleviate their immediate needs or short-term poverty alleviation; and second is for Social Development that is to break the intergenerational poverty cycle through investments in human capital.

The program, on the other hand, operates in an eight-step process. First process is the selection of the poorest provinces and municipalities based on the 2003 Small Area Estimates (SAE) of the National Statistical and Coordination Board (NSCB). Why is the 2003 data used instead of the latest 2007 data of SAE? The 2003 data was the latest data available at the time of the enumeration.

After which, a Supply Side Assessment (SSA) is conducted to check on the availability of health and education facilities and service providers in the area. After the SSA has been completed, the selection of households will be undertaken through enumeration, running the Proxy Means Test and Eligibility Check.

After the enumerated households are filtered based on the program’s criteria, a Program Orientation and Community Assembly will then be scheduled in the identified municipalities. During the Community Assembly, the households that are identified are validated and registered. The beneficiaries will also fill out the Land Bank enrollment form.

The succeeding processes will then be composed of the verification of the compliance to conditions and the releasing of grants for compliant households.

Identification of beneficiaries

The DSWD selects the beneficiaries through the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) program where assessment of households in the selected municipalities is conducted to identify who and where the poor are.

Eligible program beneficiaries must be: (1) residents of the poorest municipalities based on 2003 SAE of the NSCB; (2) households whose economic condition is equal to or below the provincial poverty threshold; (3) households that have children 0-14 years old and/or have a pregnant woman at the time of assessment; and (4) households that agree to meet the conditions specified in the program.

The poorest households in the municipalities that were enumerated and interviewed are then filtered through a Proxy-Means Test. This test determines the socio-economic category of the families by looking at certain proxy variables such as ownership of assets, type of housing, education of the household head, livelihood of the family and access to water and sanitation facilities.

Not a dole-out

Beneficiaries are asked to comply to certain program conditions in order to receive their grants. For the health condition, (1) pregnant women must avail of pre- and post-natal care and be attended during childbirth by a trained health professional; (2) O-5 year-old children must receive regular preventive health check-ups and vaccines; and 6-14 year-old children must receive deworming pills twice a year.

For the education condition, 3-5 year-old children must attend day care or preschool classes at least 85% of the time; and 6-14 year-old children must enroll in elementary or high school and must attend at least 85 percent of the time.

Also, parents must attend the monthly-held Family Development Sessions (FDS) wherein topics that are beneficial to the recipients are discussed such as Responsible Parenthood, Financial Management, Child Care, Home Management, and other topics that fit their needs and interests.

To ensure that beneficiaries’ compliance to the conditions is monitored, the DSWD has installed the “Compliance Verification System.” Compliance Verification Forms are distributed every two months to schools and health facilities.

Failure to comply with the program conditions for three consecutive times within the year will result in the temporary suspension of cash grants. The beneficiary also will not be eligible for monitoring. The beneficiary, however, has the right to appeal, 15 days upon the receipt of the written warning from his/her city/municipal link.

Social assistance and social development

The program has two primary objectives. One is Social Assistance, which provides short-term poverty alleviation by giving the beneficiaries monthly cash subsidy to cater to their immediate needs such as food, medicines, shelter.

The program provides the beneficiaries with P500 per month per household for the health and nutrition expenses and P300 per month per child for 10 months (school months). A maximum of three children per household is allowed. A household with three qualified children receives a subsidy of P1,400 per month as long as they comply with the conditions. Each household-beneficiary will receive the cash grants for at most, five years.

Bearing the beneficiaries’ welfare in mind, DSWD has designed three ways for the beneficiaries to receive the cash grants. One is through Onsite and Offsite Over-the-Counter Payouts by LandBank wherein the beneficiaries who are near to a LandBank branch can claim their grants over the counter. For areas that do not have any LandBank branch in their municipalities, the LandBank personnel will conduct the over-the-counter payouts at their respective municipalities.

Another type of payment is through a through a LandBank Cash Card that works exactly like an ATM card. The beneficiaries can withdraw their grants at any LandBank branch or any Megalink and Bancnet ATMs nationwide.

A newly-introduced mode of payment is through GCash Remit by Globe. This is especially applicable in far-flung areas such as Jose Abad Santos in Davao del Sur province.

The second objective of the program is Social Development where it focuses on breaking the intergenerational poverty cycle through investing in human capital. The parents are taught the importance of sending their children to school and regularly visiting health centers. They are also taught topics relevant to the welfare of their children, their families and the community through the Family Development Sessions.

Transparency and accountability

Like any other programs, there is always a margin of error. The department exercises transparency and accountability to correct mistakes and further improve program implementation.

At present, the municipal/city links assigned in every Pantawid Pamilya area administer the Social Welfare Indicator (SWI) to identify if a household falls in any of these categories: survival, subsistence or self-sufficient. The SWI will then help the department identify what other interventions can be accessed to assist the family.

Each municipality/city also conducts the monthly City/Municipal Advisory Committee (C/MAC) which is chaired by the city/municipal mayor. During the C/MAC meetings, grievance-related issues in the area are discussed. Also, problems on Supply Side are tackled to draw out possible solutions to resolve the Supply-related problems.

Beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries are encouraged to voice out their concerns. Queries and complaints may be forwarded to the respective City/Municipal Links (C/ML) assigned in the area. The complainant must provide the C/ML with the correct and detailed information of the complaint.

Complainants can also visit the Pantawid Pamilya Regional Program Management Office at the 3rd Floor, DSWD Building, Suazo Street, Davao City or call tel nos. (082) 227-1964 / 226-2857. They can also send their email at pantawidpamilya.fo11@gmail.com or fo11@dswd.gov.ph.

Another easier option is through the Grievance Hotline. Complainants can text their questions and complaints to the Grievance Hotline at 0918-9122813 by following the format Pantawid Pamilya your name address complaint (ex. Pantawid Pamilya Juan Dela Cruz/Davao City/Wala ko sa payroll).

Program gains

Conditional Cash Transfers have been a trend in Latin America and have been proven to be very effective in reducing poverty. In the short term, it has helped increase household income and consumption in poor families. It has also worked effectively in increasing school enrollment and attendance, especially in middle school. A substantial improvement in health and nutrition of the children that benefit from these programs has been acknowledged. (Actuar Sobre el Futuro: Romper la Transmisión Intergeneracional de la Igualdad, 2010).

In the Philippines, Pantawid Pamilya has shown impressive developments since its onset on 2008. The Social Weather Station’s study on Pantawid Pamilya last 2010 show improvements in school attendance, use of health services, immunization coverage, child nutrition, and knowledge of maternal health services. The SWS assessment also revealed that more students and parents attend extra-curricular activities; students come to school with better clothing, project materials, and food, making them more active in classrooms. It is also noteworthy that Pantawid Pamilya plays a major role in reducing child labor especially rural areas because many poor parents are now able to send their children to school.

Meanwhile, a Qualitative Impact Evaluation on Pantawid Pamilya done by the Institute of Philippine Culture of the Ateneo de Manila University concluded that the program has a lot of potential in improving people’s lives. Changes in behaviors related to health and education have also been observed in beneficiaries. These short-term outcomes are motivation for enhancement and continuous implementation for the betterment of lives of the poor.

In Region XI, the laudable impact of the program is already perceived. Norberta Sandoval of Barangay Poblacion, Sta. Maria, Davao del Sur and a Day Care Worker since 1984 affirmed the huge increase in Day Care enrollees when the program started in 2009. “Gina-expect na namo ni nga mahitabo sa pag-abot sa 4Ps apan wala kami nagdahom nga ingon ani kadaghan (We expected that this would happen upon the onset of 4Ps but we did not anticipate that it will be this huge).” “Sa pirmero naguol mi kung asa ibutang ang mga bata kay tungod sa kadaghan. Sa poblacion pa lang daan nadungagan na og 14 ka bata, gikan sa 60 nahimo nang 84 ka bata (At first we were worried where to put the others because of the huge increase of day care enrollees. In Poblacion alone, an additional 14 children enrolled in preschool, from 60 children it now upsurged to 84),” added Norberta.

Similar stories have also been documented in other Pantawid areas where there has been striking increases in school enrollees, availment of health services and attendance to Family Development Sessions. Pantawid Pamilya not only provides the basic rights to health and education but also provides them a better perspective in life. It empowers them to be productive individuals and in turn create a more productive society.

Elizabeth Cabilan, 39, of Brgy. Poblacion, Compostela is overwhelmed by the assistance that her family is receiving from the program. “Walay katapusan gyud ang akoang pasalamat sa programa. Dili ko kabalo asa ko magsugod sa kadaghang natabang sa programa sa amoa (I can never say enough ‘thank yous’ to the program. I do not know where to start because of the lots of things that the program has helped us), Elizabeth exclaimed.

Elizabeth’s eldest son Judiel, 13, a consistent honor student is also equally grateful to the program. Judiel is certain that the program will be his gateway to success. “Kung matigulang mo Ma ako ang makatabang sa inyo. Maningkamot ko og eskwela aron makahaw-as ta sa kalisod (When you grow old Mom, I will always be here for you. I will strive hard in my studies so I can give you a better life),” Judiel said with both innocence and conviction. Hoping to be a teacher when he grows up, Judiel dedicates all his achievements, medals and honors to his parents and to Pantawid Pamilya.

Convergence of efforts

To scale-up the poverty-reduction agenda of the national government and to ensure sustainability of this strategy in recipient areas, a Convergence scheme or the aptly named “Tatsulo” has been recently introduced. The Convergence Strategy converges all three core social protection programs of the DSWD – the KALAHI-CIDSS, a program which empowers communities through active participation in community development projects; SEA-K or the sustainable livelihoods equips the poor with livelihood opportunities and skills to sustain them in the long term; and the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program which provides conditional cash assistance to identified poor families. The three targets all aspects of development thus, a comprehensive and effective way to combat all phases of vulnerability.

In Region XI, a total of 125,165 families in four provinces, 32 municipalities and three cities in 625 barangays are already benefiting from the program. Thus, Pantawid Pamilya does not promote mendicancy; it is a rights-based program that promotes responsible parenthood and empowerment of the poor.

Pantawid Pamilya is costly and palliative. No! The program only augments P 7,500 per child per year so that poor children can finish up to second year high school and claim better opportunities in the future. It invests in the children’s health and education to gradually put a halt to the unending cycle of poverty in the country. Pantawid Pamilya not only gives man a fish but also teaches him how to fish better. (DSWD-11/Sheryll Jane B. Sanico)