The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is intensifying its efforts to combat poverty through the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) by forging partnerships with various government agencies. On February 11, 2025, DSWD officials emphasized the importance of a collective national approach to poverty alleviation, highlighting the program’s ongoing collaborations that extend beyond the DSWD’s scope.
Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao noted that the 4Ps has been instrumental in connecting beneficiaries to a range of services. A significant partnership is with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), which has supported 275,881 children from 4Ps families through the Unified Student Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education (UniFAST). This initiative aims to empower these young individuals to pursue higher education, thereby enhancing their employment prospects and breaking the cycle of poverty.
The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) has also played a crucial role, offering skills training to 5,152 beneficiaries in collaboration with the DSWD’s Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP). Additionally, the Department of Education (DepEd) has employed 3,685 former 4Ps grantees as teachers, showcasing the program’s impact on career development.
Further collaborations include the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), which has provided livelihood assistance to 1,320 beneficiaries, and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), which has delivered ‘Science, Technology, and Innovation interventions’ to 39,121 grantees. In the agricultural sector, the Department of Agriculture (DA) has assisted 152,944 beneficiaries, while the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has supported 3,246 grantees.
In 2024, the DSWD’s 4Ps National Program Management Office (NPMO) partnered with the Social Security System (SSS) to implement the AlkanSSSya Program, offering low-cost social insurance to grantees. Since its inception in 2008 and its institutionalization through Republic Act 11310 in 2019, the 4Ps has been a cornerstone of the Philippines’ strategy to reduce poverty and invest in human capital, providing conditional cash transfers to poor households for up to seven years to enhance children’s health, nutrition, and education.