$500 million loan approved by ADB to support 4Ps program

MANILA, Philippines — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $500 million loan to support the country’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).

“The 4Ps program provides vulnerable households with an income supplement to help their children become educated, stay healthy, and leave poverty for good. Our evidence shows that this is working. The 4Ps program has helped 1.5 million people escape poverty since it began in 2008,” said ADB Vice President Ahmed Saeed. 

The bank will also provide an additional $3.1 million as technical assistance to help improve family and youth development sessions, update the list of eligible poor households, provide a package of livelihood and other support to help up to 3,000 households out of poverty, support information technology reforms to automate compliance verification and grievance redress, and prepare for the integration of the 4Ps database with the government’s national ID system.

ADB has lent a total of $1.5 billion to support the government’s 4Ps program. This includes the $200 million loan approved last April to provide emergency cash transfers to 4Ps households amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

ADB loans to the Philippines have reached a total of $2.6 billion this year, exceeding last year’s total of $2.5 billion.