Some 4Ps beneficiaries ‘questionable’

By FELIPE V. CELINO

ROXAS City — Some beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), a poverty alleviation program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), are questionable, a source said.

Some of the program’s family recipients do not actually belong to the indigent sector, according to the source.

Some of them have a teacher and a soldier, while others own a business establishment and were considerably well-to-do families, said the source.

The municipality of Pilar is now a recipient of the 4Ps, where about 500 families from Barangays Dulangan, Natividad and San Ramon were identified as program beneficiaries.

The 4Ps is the government’s social development strategy to alleviate poverty among extremely poor households through the provision of a conditional cash transfer.

It targets to improve the health and nutrition of pregnant women and children aged 0–14 years old, and the education of school-aged children.

Under the program, beneficiaries can avail themselves of P500 per month for their health and nutrition expenses, and P300 per month per child for educational expenses. The 4Ps covers a maximum of three children per household.

‘KICK OUT DSWD-6 FIELD OFFICE’
Recently, Gov. Victor Tanco said he wanted the field office of the DSWD-6 out of the province.

One of the reasons, according to Provincial Legal Office chief Atty. Jose Villanueva, is that Tanco has been by-passed in selecting the DSWD’s project beneficiaries.

Villanueva said there should be a Provincial Advisory Council to review all the list of the supposed beneficiaries and the program to be implemented.

Some were complaining, he said, alleging that some beneficiaries were not actually indigents or poor but professionals and well-to-do residents.

He said the national government spends on projects that never reach the supposed beneficiaries.

Violeta Silva heads the DSWD-6 field office in the province, which holds office at the Capiz Provincial Capitol./PN

2,000 ‘pro-life’ join rally against RH bill

BY FELIPE V. CELINO

ROXAS City — About 2,000 persons participated in the interfaith rally against the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) bill the other day.

Led by the Catholic Church, most of the participants were students from Catholic schools and other public and private schools and members of the parishes from the different towns in the province.

The carried placards and streamers with the slogan, “Yes to life, no to RH bill.”

The city government also displayed huge anti-RH bill streamers at the public plaza.

Rep. Antonio del Rosario, together with his sister Melanie Arancillo, also joined in the rally.

Msgr. Vicente Hilata, Roxas City Metropolitan Cathedral vicar general and rector of the Colegio de la Purisima Concepcion, thanked those who attended the activity despite the inclement weather.

“This simply shows that the people in Capiz are pro-life and against RH bill,” said Hilata.

The activity was announced during last Sunday’s Masses in all the churches in the province.

The same activity was recently held in the Eastern Visayan cities of Tacloban and Ormoc, and in Bacolod City.

In Manila, “pro-life” advocates admitted they only have two remaining cards left in opposing the RH bill’s passage: Strong lobby in Congress and street protests.

Bishops and lay people continue to appeal to congressmen to reject the RH bill, according to Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo.

The House of Representatives has started the plenary discussion on the consolidated RH bills which aim to require the government to make a comprehensive range of contraceptives available to the public.
The gathering aims to inform the people in the Visayas region about the contentious issues surrounding the bill.

Also, Pabillo said the event will uncover the “true face” of the RH bill as the supposed final step “toward legalization of abortion in the Philippines.”/PN




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