In 2020, 2021, and 2022, many people in the Philippines got financial help from the government through a program called the Pantawid Pamilya Pilipino Program (4Ps). This program gives money to the poorest families so they can afford food, healthcare, and education.
However, according to the Commission on Audit (COA), many of the people who got help weren’t even listed in the official government database, called Listahanan 2. In fact, over 60% of people who received the money were not in this list. This means they shouldn’t have been included in the program in the first place.
COA’s report shows that many of these people were missed because they lived in very remote areas or their names were listed differently than the family head. Some had even moved to a new place, which made it harder for the government to find them.
Because of these mistakes, the COA said the program was not following the 2019 law that says all poor families, even those living in difficult areas, should be included in the program. The COA also found that some families were not visited by government workers to check if they should be in the program, even though they were eligible for it.
In response, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) agreed to fix the problem. They promised to include all families who should be in the program, even those missed in the past. They will also check the list again to make sure everyone who is poor and needs help gets included.
This means that more poor families in the Philippines will have a better chance to get help in the future.
