4Ps: The Cash Grants and the Conditions
Department of Social Welfare and Development · benefits
Quick answer
4Ps pays a household not less than ₱300 a month per child in day care or elementary, ₱500 for junior high and ₱700 for senior high, each up to 10 months a year, plus ₱750 a month for health and nutrition up to 12 months.
Every figure on this page is from LawPhil Project's own published documents.
Last verified 1 source, listed below
Republic Act No. 11310, an Act Institutionalizing the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program1. PHGuides is independent and not affiliated with DSWD.
4Ps, the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, is the national poverty reduction strategy, institutionalised by Republic Act No. 11310. The Act fixes the grants as floors, not fixed amounts: each is expressed as “shall not be lower than”.
The cash grants
| Grant | Not lower than | Maximum months per year |
|---|---|---|
| Per child in day care and elementary | ₱300.00 per month | 10 months |
| Per child in junior high school | ₱500.00 per month | 10 months |
| Per child in senior high school | ₱700.00 per month | 10 months |
| Health and nutrition per household | ₱750.00 per month | 12 months |
A household with one child in senior high school therefore draws at least ₱700.00 for 10 months plus ₱750.00 for 12 months, which is ₱16,000.00 across a year. That is arithmetic on the floors, not a figure the Act prints, and the actual amount is set by the Advisory Council.
The health and nutrition grant aims to promote healthy practices and family development, and to improve the health and nutritional status of pregnant and post-partum mothers, infants and young children.
Who qualifies
Three criteria, all of which must be met.
| Criterion | |
|---|---|
| Poor and near-poor | Based on the Standardized Targeting System and the PSA poverty threshold at the time of selection |
| Household composition | Members aged 0 to 18 years old, or a member pregnant at the time of registration |
| Willingness | To comply with the conditions specified by the Act |
Certain groups are automatically included in the targeting system: farmers, fisherfolk, homeless families, indigenous peoples, those in the informal settler sector, and those in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas, including areas without electricity.
Automatic inclusion in targeting is not the same as automatic entitlement. The three criteria above still apply.
DSWD selects beneficiaries nationwide using the standardized targeting system and revalidates the targeting every 3 years.
The conditions
This is what the “conditional” in conditional cash transfer means. All of them must be met for continued eligibility.
| Who | Condition |
|---|---|
| Pregnant women | Avail of pre-natal services, give birth in a health facility attended by a skilled health professional, and receive post-partum care and post-natal care for the newborn |
| Children 0 to 5 years old | Receive regular preventive health and nutrition services including check-ups and vaccinations |
| Children 1 to 14 years old | Avail of deworming pills at least twice a year |
| Children 3 to 4 years old | Attend day care or pre-school at least 85% of the time |
| Children 5 to 18 years old | Attend elementary or secondary classes at least 85% of the time |
| At least 1 responsible person | Attend DSWD family development sessions at least once a month |
The 85% attendance rule is the one households most often fall foul of, and it applies separately to the pre-school and school-age bands.
Any or all conditions may be suspended by the DSWD Secretary during times of calamities, war and armed conflicts.
What happens if you do not comply
The Act sets out a sequence, and the first step is harder than most people expect.
- The responsible person is notified in writing, and payment of cash grants is immediately terminated.
- After 4 months of noncompliance, the household is subject to DSWD’s case management process.
- If noncompliance persists for 1 year from receipt of the written notice, the household is removed from the programme.
Payment stops at the notice, not at removal.
How long you can stay
Participation runs for 7 years, to improve the health, nutrition and education aspects of beneficiaries’ lives. The National Advisory Council may recommend a longer period under exceptional circumstances.
PhilHealth is automatic
All qualified household-beneficiaries are automatically covered in the National Health Insurance Program, with funding sourced from revenue under RA 10351, the Sin Tax Reform Act of 2012.
The PhilHealth membership categories guide covers where that sits among the other categories.
How the money arrives
Through Authorized Government Depository Banks. Where a locality is not adequately served by one, DSWD may itself or through an AGDB contract rural banks, thrift banks, cooperative banks, or money remittance institutions accredited by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
The Sustainable Livelihood Program
RA 11310 defines the SLP as DSWD’s livelihood and capability building programme for poor, vulnerable and marginalised families and individuals, to help improve their socioeconomic conditions. Qualified 4Ps household-beneficiaries are given priority in availing of it.
| Track | What it provides |
|---|---|
| Microenterprise Development (MD) | Microenterprise interventions to the poor, or savings generation |
| Employment Facilitation (EF) | Interventions that facilitate employment |
The Act describes the livelihood assistance under it as one-time.
Review and adjustment
The Philippine Institute for Development Studies conducts an impact assessment every 3 years after effectivity, evaluating the programme’s effectiveness, the veracity of the beneficiary list and implementation.
The amounts in Section 7 were to be made available during the first 3 years of implementation. Every 6 years after effectivity, PIDS recommends to the Council whether the grants should be adjusted to present value using the consumer price index published by the PSA.
Penalties
| Act | Penalty |
|---|---|
| Inserting or allowing false data, or diverting from the registry, to aid a grant reaching someone other than a qualified household-beneficiary | Imprisonment of not less than 1 month and not more than 1 year, or a fine of ₱10,000.00 to ₱100,000.00, or both, at the court’s discretion |
| Where the offender is a public official | Temporary disqualification to hold public office, without prejudice to administrative sanctions |
The offence covers any person, whether or not acting in conspiracy with public officials.
What this page does not cover
The Act sets floors and leaves the actual amounts to the Advisory Council, so no current payout figure is stated here beyond the statutory minimums. It also does not publish an application form, a registration window, the poverty threshold itself, which the PSA issues separately, or the number of households covered. Selection is by the targeting system rather than by open application.
Related
The AICS guide covers DSWD’s separate crisis assistance, the PhilHealth membership categories guide covers the coverage 4Ps triggers, and the CHED scholarship guide covers the tertiary subsidy where the 4Ps list is used for prioritisation. The first 1000 days guide covers the health and nutrition services for pregnant members and children under 2.
Frequently asked questions
- How much does 4Ps pay?
- Per child, not lower than ₱300.00 a month for day care and elementary, ₱500.00 for junior high school and ₱700.00 for senior high school, each for a maximum of 10 months a year. Separately, a health and nutrition grant of not lower than ₱750.00 a month for a maximum of 12 months a year.
- Who qualifies?
- Households classified as poor and near-poor under the Standardized Targeting System and the PSA poverty threshold at the time of selection, with members aged 0 to 18 or a member pregnant at registration, and willing to comply with the conditions.
- Is anyone automatically included?
- Farmers, fisherfolk, homeless families, indigenous peoples, informal settlers, and those in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas including areas without electricity are automatically included in the targeting system. They must still meet the eligibility criteria to receive grants.
- How long can a household stay in the programme?
- 7 years, to improve the health, nutrition and education aspects of their lives. The National Advisory Council may recommend a longer period under exceptional circumstances.
- What are the conditions?
- Pre-natal, facility-based delivery and post-partum care for pregnant women; preventive health services for children 0 to 5; deworming at least twice a year for children 1 to 14; at least 85% attendance at day care or pre-school for children 3 to 4 and at elementary or secondary for children 5 to 18; and at least one responsible person attending a family development session monthly.
- What happens if we do not comply?
- You are notified in writing and payment of cash grants is immediately terminated. After 4 months of noncompliance the household enters DSWD's case management process. If noncompliance persists for 1 year from receipt of the notice, the household is removed from the programme.
- Do 4Ps beneficiaries get PhilHealth?
- Yes, automatically. All beneficiaries identified by the standardized targeting system as qualified household-beneficiaries are automatically covered in the National Health Insurance Program, funded from revenue under the Sin Tax Reform Act of 2012.
- What is the Sustainable Livelihood Program?
- DSWD's livelihood and capability building programme for poor, vulnerable and marginalised families. It runs a microenterprise development track and an employment facilitation track, and 4Ps household-beneficiaries are given priority in availing of it.