Just recently, we found out that the Philippine government plans to support families who are in dire need of support for their children in terms of education via the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or more commonly known as the 4Ps.
Our dear President Rodrigo Duterte recently signed this bill into law with the hopes that all Filipinos will be given correct and appropriate education even those parents who are not capable of sending their children to school.
The World Bank, contrary to popular belief, is the global financial organization tasked to help the poor rise out of poverty in the poorest of countries in the world.
Last Friday, the 28th of June, 2019, we knew of the news that the World Bank supports 4Ps to combat the rising poverty in the country and to be able to assist the families to provide for their children in education.
What did the World Bank say?
Last Friday, the multilateral lender based in Washington said that they OK-ed the financing of the 4Ps to be able to assist and benefit 4.5 more Filipino children in their schooling.
As per the World Bank, they will be assisting poor families for two (2) years for them to have early childhood development.
Read: The Anti-Hospital Deposit Law to Make Hospitals Treat Emergency Services Without Down Payment
This new funding will finance cash transfers to poor families for a period of two years as well as help combat malnutrition and promote early childhood development. It will also provide technical assistance to the Philippine government to help strengthen implementation and impact, including more efficient payment systems, monitoring and evaluation, and family development sessions.”
As per the World Bank, this loan that they will be providing will account for nine (9) percent of the total cost needed until June of 2022. So, the yearly budget that the 4Ps require which is about $1.7 billion, will be partially answered by the World Bank in this case.
To give you a brief refresher, the 4Ps would be benefited by around 41 percent which come from Luzon; 38 percent from Mindanao; and 21 percent from the Visayas region—that all accounts up for the total demographic of the 4Ps’ goal.
Mara K. Warwick, World Bank Country Director for the Philippines, Thailand, Brunei, and Malaysia, said that this financing would somehow display continuous development in the goal of the World Bank to overcome the situation of the poor in the poorest of countries.
Read: End of Endo Act, Approved by the Senate
This additional financing shows the World Bank’s continuing commitment to the country’s social protection program as it grows with greater sophistication to tackle a broader array of development concerns, including child malnutrition. Since 2008, the 4Ps has promoted safer birth deliveries and has improved poor children’s access to educational and health services. We are proud to support programs such as this that help millions of families overcome poverty.”
What do you think about the fact that the World Bank supports 4Ps? Could this overall help the poverty situation in the country? Or could this be worse in terms of strengthening the economy of the Philippines?