“Tanging DSWD lang ang may karapatan na magtanggal ng benepisyaryo mula sa Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, at hindi kung sino mang pulitiko.”[Only DSWD has the authority to delist beneficiaries from Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program]
This is the battlecry of the “Bawal ang Epal Dito” campaign which was emphasized during the guesting of the communication officers of Department of Social Welfare and Development Field Office 02 in the Tipon-Tipan sa PIA at the Conference Hall of Philippine Information Agency, Regional Office 02, Tuguegarao City. Tipon-Tipan is a weekly media forum which is being aired live in major cable and radio stations in the Cagayan Valley region.
Since the election is nearing, politicians are employing different antics in order to gain voters to the extent that they use some of the programs of the government especially the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, a Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program of the government which is implemented by DSWD in the 17 regions nationwide.
“It is important for our beneficiaries that they will be empowered with the knowledge that no politician can remove names from the program, so they should not be threatened whenever there are local chief executives who claim that they can,” said Maricel B. Asejo, the Information Officer for Pantawid Pamilya.
Angely M. Lubo, the Regional Information Officer also added that, “Wala naman pong dapat ipag-alala ang ating mga beneficiaries na sila ay maaring matanggal hangga’t sumusunod sila sa mga kondisyon”. That is why we encourage our beneficiaries to comply with the conditions of the program so that they will not be removed from the program. Hence, the Field Office is exerting all efforts to advocate these messages, of course, with the help of our media partners.”
It was also stressed that since the beginning, the Pantawid Pamilya is already free from any politicking because the beneficiaries were identified through the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR), which is an another special project of the department.
“Ang ating mga beneficiaries po sa Pantawid ay natukoy sa pamamagitan ng NHTS-PR, na proyekto ng DSWD, kaya maging sa pagtukoy ng beneficiaries, wala pong partisipasyon ang sinumang local chief executive o barangay captain,” said Ailyn Aglaua, Administrative Assistant of NHTS-PR respectively.
As early as December last year, the Field Office already started advocating the campaign through the use of different medium such as tri-media guestings and interviews and press releases.
The “Bawal ang Epal Dito” campaign is being implemented nationwide to ensure that the programs of the department especially the Pantawid Pamilya will be politics-free and will not be used for the advantage of any politician.
The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program is a human development program of the national government. It is also a social protection strategy that invests in the health and education of poor children age 0-14 years old. It is widely known as the Philippine conditional cash transfer program. As of January 9, 2013, the program has 3,843,502 household beneficiaries and operates in 1,605 cities and municipalities in 79 provinces in all 17 regions nationwide.
In region 02, the program has a total of 92, 628 households beneficiaries from the provinces of Cagayan with 30, 467; Isabela with 44, 030; Quirino with 6, 547 and Nueva Vizcaya with 11, 548 household beneficiaries respectively. ### (Social Marketing Unit, DSWD Field Office 02)