Strengthening the Philippines' Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program: Policy Note

The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) is a conditional cash transfer (CCT) program that provides cash to beneficiary households subject to their compliance with program conditionalities. Through the national household targeting system, Listahanan, the program identifies poor and near-poor households with children aged 0-18 or with pregnant members at registration. 4Ps is the backbone of the country’s safety nets and is one of the cash transfer programs globally recognized with the highest number of beneficiaries. There are design features that 4Ps adopted from global good practices. First, beneficiary households are objectively selected based on a Listahanan database, leaving little room for personal or political favoritism. Second, cash transfers are conditional on households’ investment in human capital such as health, nutrition, and education. Third, monthly family development sessions promote human capital investment and behavioral changes that reinforce efforts toward poverty reduction. Fourth, robust monitoring and evaluation are embedded in the program. Despite the impressive growth and success of the program, the sustainability of strong and positive impacts of 4Ps cannot be ensured unless core program functions are continuously enhanced for efficient access and delivery of benefits to beneficiary households. The note reviews the 4Ps Act and other relevant policy guidelines along four areas of inquiry, namely: (1) targeting, (2) benefit level and conditionalities, (3) program duration, and (4) payment modality. It then assesses the implementation progress and discusses the areas for further strengthening.