ILOILO CITY: Politicians who think of using beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) in their political agenda must think several times before issuing threats to the beneficiaries.

Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Regional Director Minda Brigoli announced that a recent memorandum from Secretary Corazon Soliman showed full support to Social Welfare department workers, especially those working in the pro-poor programs of DSWD.

In a DSWD year-end press conference held in Boracay Island over the weekend, Brigoli admitted that some politicians in some areas in the country are already threatening 4Ps beneficiaries to be taken out of the list of beneficiaries for not supporting the politician’s candidacy in the next election.

A deparmtent official said that the situation is not yet happening in Western Visayas but social workers and those working in the pro-poor programs were already briefed on what to do in case politicians wanted to interfere in the program for their political end.

Brigoli stressed that only those beneficiaries who committed serious violations in the program
are to be taken out from the 4Ps list and they are certainly not recommended by politicians.

Those workers who felt threatened by politicians must report immediately so that immediate corrective measures be taken up.

Similarly, there is no election banning for DSWD pro-poor program implementation As DSWD winds up its five-year program from 2008 to 2013, Brigoli said.

There are 254,483 household beneficiaries in the region and all six provinces, 18 congressional districts, 16 cities, 117 municipalities and 4,050 barangays, are covered by the 4Ps program.

Negros Occidental province has the most number of beneficiaries with 87,215; Iloilo with 74,957; Capiz with 37,200; Antique with 26,102; Aklan with 22,559; and Guimaras with 6,450 beneficiaries.

The department has released a retroactive payment as of November 7, 2012 covering CY 2011 and CY 2012 in the amount of P141,210,400 to the beneficiaries.