DSWD, SSS Sign Memorandum over 4Ps Members in PH
SSS – The Social Security System wants the four (4) million beneficiaries of 4Ps to be its members through a modified AlkanSSSya Program.
One of the biggest anti-poverty programs of the Philippine government is the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or more popularly called 4Ps. Millions of Filipinos are members of 4Ps for several years now.
Through the 4Ps, the Philippine government wants to ensure that the Filipino children gets to study in schools amid the poverty in their household. It aims to help each Filipino family living below the poverty line have a graduate.
Under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or the DSWD 4Ps Cash Assistance, 4Ps members receive a monthly allowance from the Department of Social Welfare and Development or DSWD. It spearheads the said anti-poverty program.
The 4Ps beneficiaries are determined by the authorities through the screening. They receive their allowance under the program through a Landbank ATM card. There are requirements to maintain a 4Ps membership such as the attendance to the meetings set.
Recently, the Social Security System, more popularly called SSS, wants to help the 4Ps members ensure their future. It signed a memorandum of agreement with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) that will allow the beneficiaries of 4Ps to become members of the state-run entity through a modified version of its AlkanSSSya Program.
The AlkanSSSya Program was launched in 2011 as a micro-savings scheme for self-employed workers with irregular income. Tricycle drivers, market vendors, farmers, fisherfolk, and other workers in the informal economy can save under the program.
Based on a report, SSS president Rolando Macasaet also expressed willingness to create a special SSS contribution table for 4Ps beneficiaries to fit their capacity for a monthly contribution. Currently, the minimum monthly contribution is at Php 570. It can be reduced to a much lower amount for the 4Ps beneficiaries.
Furthermore, the SSS President also expressed that the state-run social insurance entity is exploring options to help the 4Ps beneficiaries in making the 120 monthly contributions required for a retirement pension.