CEBU CITY, Cebu, Philippines — Inline with the expansion of government’s poverty-alleviation program, Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), under the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), nearly 59,000 additional indigent families in Central Visayas will soon receive a monthly 4Ps stipend.

Raquel Daria, DSWD7 monitoring and evaluation officer for 4Ps, said that 58,832 more poorest-of-the poor families in the region will avail of the conditional cash transfer. More than half, or 39,047 households are from Cebu, followed by 11, 311 families in Bohol. Likewise, Negros Oriental has 7,801 added family-recipients and Siquijor has 673.

In Cebu alone, 23 municipalities have been added to Pantawid areas.

Currently, there are 136,608 poor families in the region that are 4Ps recipients.

Meanwhile, said additional household-beneficiaries are the result of the increased budget for the 4Ps program. This year’s P27 billion budget has been increased to P39 billion in 2012.

Once the approved increased budget takes effect next year, Daria said the additional household-beneficiaries can start availing of the program’s benefits.