4Ps digitalization to aid impact assessment, monitoring

DAVAO CITY – The  Department of Science and Technology in Davao ration (DOST-11) said on Tuesday it gave a PHP1 million fund to the University of Mindanao (UM) here for its research on the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).

The fund, granted through the agency's Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD), aims to plot a visual system to improve the monitoring of the country's 4Ps program.

The study will be completed in partnership with the Digos City government in Davao del Sur.

Dubbed “e-4Ps Map”, the study seeks to address the gap as to how local governments can monitor the success or compliance rate of beneficiaries of the 4Ps program through a decision support-based data dashboard information and visualization system.

The dashboard would show statistical, graphical, and geospatial presentations on the effectivity of the service.

The study will be led by Dr. John Vianne Murcia, UM’s Institute of Economy and Enterprise Studies director, in collaboration with the Digos City government.

Murcia said the project includes training 4Ps beneficiaries and the City Social Welfare and Development Office personnel in updating, verifying, and analyzing the data for the dashboard system.

“This project will help the government monitor the expected outcomes of the 4Ps, thus entailing accountability and transparency on their part,” he said.

According to the Department of Social Welfare and Development, the success of the program is currently measured through an impact evaluation report by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) every three years.

The amount of cash grant provided can also be adjusted upon recommendation of PIDS to the National Advisory Council every six years.

The 4Ps is a central poverty reduction program of the government that provides conditional cash transfers to poor households to improve the health, nutrition, and education aspects of the lives of Filipinos.