BUTUAN CITY – The expanded poverty alleviation program of the government – the Set 3 of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps – is targeting at least 13,717 household beneficiaries in the Caraga Region and Southern Mindanao (Region 11) this year.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in the two regions reported that the beneficiaries of the Set 3 of 4Ps program have already been identified and the registration is already underway where social workers, along with the local government units (LGUs), are conducting the registration phase for the potential beneficiaries of the expanded poverty alleviation program.

DSWD 11 Regional Director Ester Acebedo-Versoza said 4Ps is expanding to another 7,201 households in its Set 3 implementation located in various targeted areas, especially in poor far-flung villages in Southern Mindanao.

DSWD 13 Regional Director Mercedita Jabagat also said that at least 6,516 potential target beneficiaries are set to receive the 4Ps assistance under the Set 3 program for 2010 in Surigao del Sur alone.

Targeted municipalities for the Set 3 program include Tandag City with 1,000 beneficiaries; Tago town with 933 beneficiaries; San Agustin with 583 beneficiaries; and the municipalities of Carrascal, Madrid, Carmen, Cortes, Bayabas, Cagwait, and Lianga with 500 beneficiaries each.