BUTUAN CITY – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Caraga, through its partner conduits, is set to release within May 16-June 30, 2018 the Period 6 cash grants of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) beneficiaries whose mode of payment is over-the-counter (OTC).

The grants under Period 6 (January 2018) will be released along with the P2,400 cash grant under the Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT).

OIC-Regional Director Mita Chuchi Gupana-Lim explained that the month-long delay of the release for OTC transactions is caused by the synchronized payout for the 4Ps grant and UCT. “This includes the incompletion of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) and processing of release of funds from Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and Bureau of Treasury (BTr) for the UCT,” Lim said.

“We are not the only region affected by this system problems. Other regions are also awaiting for the resolution of some technical problems encountered at the national level,” she added.

The UCT is a social mitigating measure to protect the disadvantaged, poor, and vulnerable sectors who will not benefit from the lower income taxes but will adversely affected by the rising prices due to the implementation of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law.

As stipulated in the TRAIN Act, the government will provide monthly cash grant of P200 in 2018 and P300 in 2019 and 2020 for the 10 million poor households/individuals, 4.4 million of which are 4Ps beneficiaries.

In Caraga, about 180,000 household are recorded to be active 4Ps beneficiaries. #