By Jigger J. Jerusalem
Correspondent .
CONTRARY to a post made on Facebook, beneficiaries of the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) in Northern Mindanao may withdraw their monthly stipend at the Land Bank of the Philippines’ automated teller machines and not over-the-counter (OTC), a Department of Social Welfare and Development officer said yesterday.
Oliver Inodeo, DSWD-10’s spokesperson for the 4Ps, said they were informed that a Facebook page called the Pantawid Pamilya Pilipino Program-Region 10 posted on Sept. 2, that recipients of the program can now obtain their cash grant through OTC for those who do not have the Land Bank cash card or First Consolidated Bank “Pitakard.”
But Inodeo said what the FB page has posted was erroneous as 4Ps beneficiaries in the region have already been given their upgraded cash cards with EMV or chip card technology feature and that there is no need for them to withdraw their grant at the bank teller.
“Activation and distribution of the cash cards has already been finished in May 2019, making it easier for the 4Ps beneficiaries to make the withdrawal,” he said.
In a statement released yesterday, the DSWD-10 said it has “converted all [4Ps] beneficiaries into cash card holders from the previous [OTC] payment scheme in coordination with the Land Bank of the Philippines.”
The agency said the upgrading of the system was “to hasten and make payout transactions easier and more convenient for the recipients in the withdrawal of their grants from the program.”
In coordination with Land Bank, DSWD-10 distributed and activated EMV cards to 250,038 households in the region.
“Thus, there is no truth to the information proliferating in the different social media platforms that DSWD Field Office 10 has scheduled its over-the-counter payout this September. All cash grants will be credited directly to the beneficiaries’ cash cards, not through [OTC] payment,” it said.
DSWD-10 said certain FB pages have been posting and giving out incorrect and inaccurate information about 4Ps and its implementation processes, misleading its beneficiaries.
To get the correct information, the agency has encouraged the public may visit its official FB page DSWD Region X, as “this is the only page that the DSWD-10 owns.
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