Some 3,490 households in Siquijor province are beneficiaries of the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) , said Siquijor Provincial Social Welfare Officer Reggie Locsin during the 1st Quarterly Provincial Convergence (PCC) Meeting held recently.

Locsin said that of the total household beneficiaries provincewide, Lazi town has the highest number with 1,130 active households, followed by Siquijor town with 676, and Maria and San Juan with 642 and 630, respectively.

The municipalities with the least number of active households are Enrique Villanueva, with 207, and Larena with 205.

Locsin also reported that  a total of 772 are eligible for Compliance Verification System (CVS) monitoring while 32 are not.

She said at least 74 households have been delisted due to aging/inactive status in the program, while 16 have now exited with an improved level of wellbeing, and 20 have waived.

Locsin also discussed the Set 12 Registration which concludes the validation and registration of potential household beneficiaries.

The Local Government Units (LGU) reported a total of 829 potential households with already 759 registered.

San Juan municipality has 114 potential households and 103 registered; Maria town,103 and 94; Enrique Villanueva, 42 and 41;  Lazi, 188 and 173; Siquijor, 225 and 204; and Larena  has 157 potential households with 144 registered.

There are also potential households for exit/graduation with 374 households classified under Natural Attribution, 339 as non-poor (Batch 1), and 497 identified under Level 3.

Meanwhile, Locsin reiterated the crafting of the Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) in 2021 by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) in support to the implementation of program pursuant to RA 11310 or the 4Ps Act which highlighted convergence of programs and services among national and local government agencies.

RA 1130 calls for convergence of programs and services of the various government agencies to ensure that the targeted household beneficiaries are alleviated from poverty and remain non-poor even after the prescribed maximum period for the conditional cash grants.

“We do not want the graduated 4Ps households to go back to square one,” Locsin quoted DILG Secretary Eduardo Ano as he urged LGUs and their sanggunian to acknowledge that support for these families go beyond 4Ps through the enactment of a social protection ordinance providing social protection services for them and other 4Ps households. (PR/Charliz Grace Angelique Gom-os, HUMSS, Siquijor Provincial Science HS)