A Facebook page is circulating two posts claiming that beneficiaries of the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program will now receive a P2,000 cash incentive for six months, supposedly announced by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as part of the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Unified Package for Livelihoods, Industry, Food, and Transport program. This needs context.
Published on Aug. 13, the posts were shared by the FB page in two different FB groups. One in DSWD Payout Updates and the other in 4Ps Region 11-12 update. The posts bore a text graphic that read:
“wow may good news mga kabene kung napanuod niyo Ang anunsyo BBM tayong 4ps ay makakatangap nadin ng uplift mula July Hanggang Dec
(Wow, good news, kabene. If you watched the announcement, BBM said that we 4Ps recipients will also get an UPLIFT from July to December).”
While it is true that 3.5 million families listed as 4Ps and Walang Gutom Program beneficiaries are part of UPLIFT under the Group 1 category, they have received only a one-time P2,000 assistance credited to their ATM accounts starting July 21.
UPLIFT is a government relief package designed to provide cash aid, fuel subsidies and livelihood support to vulnerable families and transport workers during economic and energy crises.
There are three categories eligible for the program: Group 1 covers the 3.5 million families enrolled in DSWD’s 4Ps and WGP; Group 2 comprises 2.5 million poor and near-poor households, based on the 2024 Community-Based Monitoring System of the Philippine Statistics Authority; Group 3 comprises 1.5 million low-income Filipinos who are members of the Social Security System.
Under the program, families in Group 1 received a one-time assistance of P2,000, while households in Groups 2 and 3 are entitled to P2,000 a month aid from July to December to prevent them from slipping below the poverty threshold.
4Ps is a permanent program for the poorest households with school-age children, while WGP helps food-insecure families through food credits. UPLIFT, on the other hand, is a crisis fund program that consists of three groups that also cover 4Ps and WGP members only for a one-time P2,000 aid. But the program is mainly for poor and near-poor households and SSS members who will receive P2,000 monthly until December to help ease the impact of the recent economic crisis.
The inaccurate post started circulating when DSWD launched the nationwide rollout of the UPLIFT cash assistance on July 21.
VERA Files recently debunked a post on FB claiming that National ID holders are qualified to receive a P2,000 cash aid under the UPLIFT Assistance program.
Published by the FB page Kabeni 4ps update, the post collectively garnered 1,994 reactions; 212 comments; and 54 shares.
