THE national government’s conditional cash transfer (CCT) program, the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, has extended its age coverage of children-beneficiaries to include 15 to 18 years old.

Assistant Regional Director Joel P. Galicia of the Department of Social Welfare and Development 6 (DSWD6) said the age extension aims to strengthen the government’s investment in human capital through the Pantawid Pamilya program by ensuring that children will finish at least high school, taking into account the K-12 program of the Department of Education (DepEd).

“Studies show that majority of teenagers aged 15-18 years old have a decreasing interest to attend school as they are more encouraged by their families to look for work. Extending the age coverage will enable them to finish high school thereby, increasing their employability in the future,” he said.

For the past five years, Pantawid Pamilya only covered poor households with children aged 14 years old and below.

Eligible households receive P500 health grant monthly and P300 education grant per child during school months regardless of grade level. A maximum of P1,400 monthly grant is availed by a family with three qualified children in school provided that they comply with the program conditions.

These conditions include availing of periodic check-ups and vaccinations for children 0-5 years old; twice a year intake of de-worming pills for children 6-14 years old; pre and post-natal care for pregnant women; attending Family Development Sessions (FDS); and maintaining at least 85% school attendance.

But with the extended age coverage, Galicia said children-beneficiaries attending high school will be provided higher grant amount for education.

“For education, those in high school will avail of P500 per month during the school year. Those in the elementary, the grant will remain at P300. The health grant is still P500. For a household with three qualified children in high school, the highest possible grant package that they will receive is P2,000,” Galicia said.

Pantawid Pamilya will also go beyond the five-year limit to support children-beneficiaries up to 18 years old or until they finish high school, whichever comes first.

DSWD6 records show that to date, more than 15,646 children-beneficiaries have been found eligible to avail of the extended age coverage.

As of June 2014, Pantawid Pamilya covers more than 311,000 households in Western Visayas.

More than P609-million has been released to the beneficiaries during the first half of this year. (DSWD6/ Alma Jornadal-Estember)