The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) is the Philippine
government’s most expensive social protection program to date. It is
centered on two objectives—social assistance and social development. The
program provides cash grants to poor families to help them meet immediate
needs. At the same time, it aims to break the so-called “intergenerational
poverty” by investing in human capital. The latter is achieved by imposing
conditionalities in exchange for the cash assistance the program provides
to beneficiaries. As of the end of December 2012, there are a total of 3.1
million families who have been assisted by the program. This is such a
huge leap from a mere 340,391 beneficiaries in 2008. As of the end of 2013,
an estimated amount of PHP 120 billion has already been expended for
the program.
In 2013, it has been five years since the program has been formally
rolled out. It is thus necessary to draw assessments that have been
conducted so far and to look at some important issues such as those
in terms of design and implementation. This study aims to assess the
design, implementation and initial impacts of the program in the context
of promoting inclusive growth. The specific objectives of the paper are
as follows: (i) present a review of the assessments of the 4Ps in the past;
(ii) discuss the design and implementation issues of the conditional cash
transfer (CCT) programs in Latin American countries and of the Philippine
4Ps; (iii) assess the characteristics of 4Ps beneficiaries as well as the impact
of the 4Ps on school attendance; and (iv) provide valuable insights that
could help fine-tune the 4Ps and, at the same time, enhance other existing
programs or craft new ones that could complement the 4Ps.