IMPLEMENTING PARTNER: Concerned Citizens of Abra for Good Government (CCAGG)
YEARS: 2011 – 2012
GRANT AMOUNT: $35,500
THEME: Public Safety Net
The Conditional Cash Transfer Program (CCTP) or Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) has become the largest and core social assistance program in the Philippines. The program is one of the responses of the Philippine government to the challenge of meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), namely: 1) eradicating extreme poverty and hunger; 2) achieving universal primary education; 3) promoting gender equality and empowering women; 4) reducing child mortality; and 5) improving maternal health.
Since the launching of the program in 2008, the number of CCTP beneficiary households has increased rapidly to 3 million in 2012 covering almost 60% of total poor Filipino households who are identified under the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) with a budget of P39 billion. Budget support for the program has nearly doubled every year from P10 billion in 2010 to P21 billion in 2011 and P39 billion in 2021.
In Abra, poverty situation worsened with poverty incidence of 33.3% among families posting higher rate in 2009, third highest among provinces in the Cordillera Administrative Region. In terms of magnitude, Abra had the most number of poor families and individuals in the region with 15,182 families or 94,088 individuals living below the poverty line. The province accounted for more than a quarter or 27.6% of all poor families in CAR. Abra placed 6th in 2000, 19th in 2003 and 9th in 2009 with high poverty incidence among the 82 provinces of the Philippines.
The CCTP Watch Project provided for an important initiative of community feedback on the current functioning of the CCTP or 4Ps flagship social protection scheme in Philippines. The findings from the different tools used by the CCTP Watch, whether they be baseline survey, regular feedback to monitoring teams or in capacity-building seminars for parent leaders organized by the project, all confirmed the positive impact that the 4Ps is having among the poor in Abra. The results from all 12 municipalities covered suggest that children are attending school in greater numbers, pregnant mothers visit RHU clinics more frequently, underweight children are more likely to be identified through the CCTP and their needs addressed, as well as the empowerment of parents through the monthly Family Development Sessions (FDS) provide for a unique opportunity to better harness Parent Leaders in co-governance of flagship government schemes such as the 4Ps in delivering more effective outcomes.
