The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program of Department of Social Welfare and Development Field Office V open’s the selection to its existing beneficiaries to register their children and be monitored by the program in education.

The open selection gives chance to identified beneficiaries of the Program to newly register, add, change, select the child they wanted to be monitored by the program and be provided with assistance.

It will run from January to March 2015 targeting a total of 389,785 household in Bicol Region.

According to Ryan Marqueses, regional beneficiary data officer, the selection is open to all active beneficiaries with children aged 3-18. “This selection gives chance to beneficiaries whose child are no longer entering school or beneficiaries who have not yet completed the maximum of three children per family being monitored by the program.

“We also encourage them (beneficiaries) to register their older children or children who are now in high school for them to have a better chance in finishing their studies, enter into college or better opportunity to get a job or get a high income,” he said.

He added that it is more beneficial to register their children who are in high school since the progam provides cash grant of P500 for education and P500 in health while children beneficiaries who are in elementary are provided with cash grants of P300 for education and P500 for health, per child for a maximum of three children per family.

To register their child or children, the beneficiaries needs to submit a school enrolment certificate signed by school principal or head teacher to their respective municipal or city links assigned in their area. They also need to fill up a form which will be provided by the municipal/city link entailing the basic information of the child to be registered.

Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program is a poverty reduction strategy that provides grants to extremely poor households to improve their health, nutrition and education particularly of children aged 0-18.

In Bicol Region, a total of 375, 511 households benefitted from the said program.***G.A.N.Lindio, IO-Pantawid