by Lito Dar
 A total of 377 Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) or Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) beneficiaries in the city received their first cash grants recently.

The released amount, totaling P908,600 represents the CCT assistance for the month of January and February this year.

Held April 12 at the Baguio Convention Center, leading the releasing of the assistance were Mayor Mauricio Domogan, Association of Barangay Council (ABC) president and Councilor Joel Alangsab, City Social Welfare and Development (SWDO) officer Betty Fangasan, Department of Social and Welfare and Development (DSWD-CAR) Pantawid Pamilya Programs and Operation Division head Janet Armas, Department of Education (DepEd-Baguio) officials, and Land Bank (LBP-Baguio) representatives.

In a statement Fangasan, stressed to the beneficiaries that the initial cash release grant is only part of the package of services that the government offers under the CCT program. There are more services that are being prepared for them such as livelihood and feeding programs for their Day Care children by June, she said.

Thus, Fangasan calls on the CCT beneficiaries’ cooperation and participation in attending their regular meetings and in complying to all the other conditions of the program, such as regularly bringing their kids to a regular check-up and attending school meetings.

Beneficiaries are urged to comply with the program conditions to keep them from being delisted as this would be a big help for their family.

In the same activity, 65 college students, who are also children of CCT beneficiaries, received an educational assistance, courtesy of Senator Pia Cayetano and Bayan Muna Representative Rafael Mariano.

In an interview, Janet Armas explained the said educational assistance is a one time grant to CCT beneficiary dependents who were enrolled in the second semester, October to November 2010. The assistance also goes as high as P15,000 depending on the assessment submitted to them from the college/university the beneficiaries are studying.

Armas also stressed that they will be monitoring the impact of the educational assistance to the beneficiaries and at the same time look for additional funding that would help address the other needs of the CCT household beneficiaries.

In his message, Domogan also calls on beneficiaries to religiously comply with the conditions of the CCT aside from the big help it would bring to their families, the program’s good implementation and performance in the city may inspire the government or the DSWD central Office to add more CCT beneficiaries in Baguio.
“We should look at this program as an opportunity so you should also help yourself by complying with the program’s conditions, as this is the contribution of the government to help people. You may say that the cash assistance is not sufficient but I am sure that this would be a big help in improving your life conditions,” Domogan stressed. (LD PIA CAR)