More than 1.6 million Filipino families have risen above poverty through the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said Monday.
DSWD Assistant Secretary and spokesperson Irene Dumlao said the conditional cash transfer program has helped millions of low-income households improve their quality of life since it was launched 18 years ago.
“The implementation of the 4Ps for the past 18 years has helped over 1.6 million families to rise from poverty,” Dumlao said.
Among the regions with the highest number of families who graduated from poverty were the Cordillera Administrative Region with more than 174,000 households, followed by the National Capital Region with over 141,000 families.
The Ilocos Region recorded more than 129,000 beneficiaries who moved out of poverty, while Calabarzon posted over 127,000 and Central Luzon logged more than 122,000.
Dumlao said the milestone reflects the government’s continuing efforts to help poor families achieve self-sufficiency and break the cycle of poverty.
“This achievement serves as a testament to the government’s commitment to support poor Filipino families to attain self-sufficiency and end the intergenerational cycle of poverty,” she said.
The Marcos administration has set a target of reducing the country’s poverty incidence to single-digit levels by 2028.
The 4Ps program was introduced in 2008 and later institutionalized through Republic Act 11310 in 2019 as the government’s flagship poverty reduction and human capital investment initiative.
Under the program, qualified low-income households receive conditional cash grants for up to seven years to help support their children’s education, healthcare, and nutrition.