A netizen posted screenshots of a TikTok video claiming that incoming Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Erwin Tulfo will distribute a P20,000 cash aid per family nationwide.
Posted by an FB netizen on June 6, the screenshots read: “GOODNEWS (sic) SA LAHAT! UNANG AYUDA NG DSWD! P20K CASH AID PER FAMILY SA BUONG PILIPINAS (Good news for everyone! First cash aid from DSWD: P20,000 cash aid per family in the entire Philippines)!”
The claim needs context. Tulfo merely proposed a one-time lump sum cash aid and livelihood assistance of up to P20,000 for the beneficiaries of DSWD’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps). It is not meant for distribution to every Filipino family, as falsely claimed.
Tulfo clarified the idea would first undergo scrutiny from experts before implementation, including a dry run in barangays. He added: “If it will fail then hindi po natin ipagpapatuloy balik tayo sa 4Ps na every month (If it will fail, then we will not go ahead with the plan and just go back to monthly 4Ps).”
During a May 31 Dobol Weng sa Dobol B episode of GMA’s Super Radyo DZBB, Tulfo said that every 4Ps beneficiary currently receives P1,200 to P1,400 every month for ten months every year. He plans to distribute a year’s worth of cash aid as a one-time lump sum worth P12,000 to P14,000 so that 4Ps beneficiaries can use it to set up businesses.
Under his proposed program, the incoming DSWD Secretary said he wants to add livelihood assistance to bump the one-time lump sum to P19,000 to P20,000.
According to the 4Ps’ implementing rules and regulations, household-beneficiaries should be classified as poor or near-poor; and have members that are zero to 18 years old or a pregnant woman. Farmers, fisherfolks, homeless families, indigenous peoples, informal settlers, and those in far-away areas are priorities in the 4Ps beneficiary selection.
A household-beneficiary would receive a health grant of P750 a month, a rice subsidy of P600 a month, PhilHealth insurance, and an education grant of P300 per elementary student, P500 per junior high school student, or P700 per senior high school student, the DSWD’s website explained.
Screenshots from the netizen’s FB post were from a June 5 TikTok clip and are a reuploaded version of a video posted by YouTube channel CNTV (created on Nov. 20, 2019). The FB post got 4,484 interactions, the TikTok video had 930,220 interactions, and the YouTube video got 78,870 views.
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