BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya, March 21 (PIA) — The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program(4Ps) will be rounding up at least 12,758 poor families in this province for validation and provision of benefits this year.

Marissa Tongdo, 4Ps provincial link said the figure will be subjected for the National Household Targetting System(NHTS) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development(DSWD) in order to check their qualification for the 4Ps.

“This figure may be reduced depending on the result of our NHTS validation later in the 15 municipalities of our province,” she said during the meeting of the Provincial Advisory Committee(PAC) yesterday.

Since 2012 to the first quarter of 2012, the 4Ps has benefited 11,583 families with more than P20 million cash grants released to the beneficiaries.

The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program is a human development program of the national government that invests in the health and education of poor households, particularly of children aged 0-14 years old.

Patterned after the conditional cash transfer scheme implemented in other developing countries, the Pantawid Pamilya provides cash grants to beneficiaries provided that they comply with the set of conditions required by the program.

Its dual dual objectives are : Social Assistance – to provide cash assistance to the poor to alleviate their immediate need (short term poverty alleviation); and Social Development – to break the intergenerational poverty cycle through investments in human capital.

4Ps helps to fulfill the country’s commitment to meet the Millennium Development Goals, namely: Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger, Achieve Universal Primary Education, Promote Gender Equality, Reduce Child Mortality and Improve Maternal Health.