CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga, Philippines — A four-day forum that would involve civil society organizations (CSOs) in the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) is being held at the Holiday Inn, here.

Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad said the 4Ps or Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program is aimed at achieving millennium development goals (MDGs) which includes decreasing of the number of impoverished people in the country.

While clarifying that the 4Ps is not a permanent form of support, Abad said the government dole-outs are meant to assist poor families get through life by addressing their immediate needs.

Around a hundred representatives from CSOs came to the forum which promoted a sustained and informed involvement of the CSOs in the implementation, oversight, and evolution of the 4Ps.

“To ensure its success, the Pantawid Pamilya must be democratically implemented with active participation of civil society to assess every step of the program in order to ensure good governance and transparency in all levels,” said Social Welfare Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman.

Abad said that to make public funds work for the poor, there is a need to reform the national budget, expand the 4Ps, and involving the CSOs in the program.

The forum is being conducted with the support of Asian Development Bank (ADB) and in collaboration with AusAID and the World Bank.

Abad said that in the next five years starting 2012, the Aquino government will spend P306.6 billion for the CCT. A total of P276 billion will be for cash grants awarded to beneficiaries, and the remaining P30.6 billion will be for implementing costs.

Beneficiaries receive a monthly stipend of up to P1,400.

He added that at least 4.6 million beneficiaries will benefit from the cash transfer program until the exit strategy prepared by the DSWD is implemented in 2016.

The exit strategy, Abad said, involves the introduction of a sustainable livelihood program and self-employment assistance program and guaranteed employment through public-private partnerships initiative of the government.