Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 10) — The Asian Development Bank announced on Wednesday it had approved a $500 million loan (about ₱25 billion) to boost its assistance for the government’s conditional cash transfer program.
Through the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), 4.3 million households receive cash payments from the government every two months.
However, the beneficiaries must meet certain conditions, such as children meeting school attendance targets and attending regular health check-ups. Women must also avail of pre- and post-natal care, while parents should partake in family development sessions, explained the multilateral lender in a statement.
The program was made permanent with larger cash grants after President Rodrigo Duterte signed the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program Act into law in April last year. “The new loan will help fund these higher grants for program beneficiaries,” ADB added.
“The 4Ps program provides vulnerable households with an income supplement to help their children become educated, stay healthy, and leave poverty for good. Our evidence shows that this is working,” said ADB Vice President Ahmed Saeed
He said further that the program has helped 1.5 million escape poverty since it began in 2008.
“Through this project loan and technical assistance support, ADB is helping the Philippines expand these gains,” he said.
The loan brings the institution’s total assistance to the program to over $1.5 billion (around ₱76 billion), which includes the $200 billion (about ₱10 billion) loan it approved in April to aid the government’s efforts in providing emergency cash transfers for 4Ps beneficiaries amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“With this loan, ADB’s total lending to the Philippines has reached $2.6 billion so far this year, exceeding its record lending of $2.5 billion in 2019,” the bank said.
