Some 14,962 households in the Ilocos Region have been chosen as new beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilya Pilipino Program (4Ps) of the national government through the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

Of the total number, 9,875 are from Pangasinan, 2,006 from La Union, 1,689 from Ilocos Sur, and 1,392 from Ilocos Norte, according to DSWD-1.

In an interview Monday, DSWD 1 information officer Jaesem Ryan Gaces said the new beneficiaries qualified based from the 2015 Listahan Household Assessment.

Listahanan, or the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction, is a household assessment program of the DSWD that aims to identify poor households as basis for qualification in the programs and services of government agencies.

“They comprised the Set 9 of the 4Ps beneficiaries, who are also eligible to receive cash grants for their children’s education, their family’s healthcare, among other subsidy from the national government,” he said.

Gaces said the program orientation for the new beneficiaries is ongoing all over the region.

“We orient them on the terms and conditions of the program and to signify that they adhere to these, at the end of the orientation, they sign an oath of commitment,” he said.

Landbank forms were also filled out by the new beneficiaries for their cash cards where the cash grant would be deposited, he added. (PNA)