Empowerment of Women under Government Social Protection Program:

A Philosophical Understanding
Princess Justine Mae Galang. Talimio
De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines
ptalimio@[Link]

Abstract. Poverty is very widespread and rampant here in the Philippines. The people affected
by this problem are the families living in extreme poverty since they cannot provide for the
immediate needs of their family. Fortunately, there are social protection program such as
Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) wherein it aims to reduce poverty, improve the health and
improve the education of citizens living in extreme poverty by providing cash grants which they
can utilize for their immediate needs. Its popularity is spreading to Southeast Asia, with
Indonesia implementing it in 2007 and then followed by the Philippines. The CCT program in
the Philippines is called the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps). The beneficiaries are
the ones who will profit from the program and the most responsible person in the household shall
be the head beneficiary of the program which is in most cases, the mother. In most countries
abroad wherein CCT programs are also implemented, studies shows that these programs have
positive effects on women. This research aims to analyse the effectiveness of 4Ps on Filipina
empowerment and incorporate a philosophical perspective regarding this matter.

Keywords: Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT), Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps),
Beneficiaries, Subsidy, Filipina Women Empowerment

Introduction

Conditional Cash Transfer

Conditional cash transfer or also known as CCT is a type of program that transfers cash to
families living in extreme poverty on the condition that the household beneficiaries will abide by
the conditions set by the program (Fiszbein and Schady, 2009). Many countries are
implementing CCT programs as a method of social assistance and poverty reduction tool by
improving the social aspects of the society such as health, education and nutrition. The main
principle of the program is the process of transferring cash subsidies to poor households living in
extreme poverty by providing cash grants in exchange of the beneficiaries complying with the
conditionalities set by the program (Rawling and Brière, 2006).

Most Conditional Cash Transfer programs are divided into two factors, (1) education and (2)
health or nutrition. The education element consists of cash grants to be given to students so that
they can go to school starting from daycare up to secondary school. Education subsidy is focused
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on children aged 0-18 years old. The second factor of CCT focuses more on the improvement of
health of the mother and the children. The beneficiaries are given free pre-natal checkups for
pregnant women and monthly checkup for the children. The health and nutrition element are
composed of cash grants that are given to the household ensuring that the beneficiaries should be
having nutritional dietary intake.

Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program

In the Philippines, there are a lot of social protection programs which are offered by the
government to help alleviate people from poverty, improve the education of the children,
increase the health and nutrition of household especially pregnant women and children aged 0-18
years old. The most known social protection program is the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino
Program formerly known as Ahon Pamilyang Pilipino or widely known by the public as 4Ps. It is
the most expensive and generous social protection program of the government (Canare, 2017).
4Ps is considered as the Philippines‟ flagship social assistance program.

The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) of the Philippines has been piloted since 2007
but its implementation was widely recognized on January [Link] program aims to provide
monetary assistance for Filipino families who are living in extreme poverty and for them to
achieve a certain human development goals given by the government. It was influenced by the
success of CCT programs in other countries wherein it has helped millions of people across the
world alleviate from poverty by providing cash grants and educational seminars (Reyes and
Tabuga, 2012).

Since the implementation of the program, it has already financed transfers to approximately one
million households. The 4Ps program now operates in 17 regions, 79 provinces and 143 cities,
and 1,484 municipalities covering 4,326,208 household beneficiaries. It is currently the country‟s
flagship anti-poverty program covering 75% of the whole population of the Philippines. 4Ps is
considered as the 4th largest CCT program in the world based on its coverage on population
(Arulpragasam et al., 2011; Crost et al., 2014; Montilla et al., 2015; Quimbo et al., 2015; Reyes
et al., 2015; Canare, 2017).
4Ps acts as a lifesaver for families living in extreme poverty because it provides monetary
assistance to help them finance their immediate needs. The beneficiaries are obliged to follow
the conditions given by the DSWD (Ranario, 2012). 4Ps help the government achieve the
country‟s commitment to meet the Millennium Development Goals, namely: (1) eliminate
extreme poverty and hunger, (2) achieve a universal education in the primary level, (3) promote
gender equality, (4) reduce the death of children under 5 years old, and (5) ameliorate the
condition and health of pregnant women (Reyes and Tabuga, 2012; Ranario, 2012; Montilla et
al., 2015).
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Apart from the program giving financial support to families living in extreme poverty which they
can utilize to support their immediate needs, 4Ps also give attention to many issues such as the
targeting, monitoring and evaluation of the beneficiaries (“4Ps Concept Paper”, 2009) The 4Ps of
the Philippines targets poverty not only by providing cash grants to the beneficiaries but also by
tracing the root cause of poverty and how it can be prevented for the development of the future.

The two main objectives of 4Ps are social assistance and social development. Social assistance
means that the program will provide cash assistance and monetary support to poor household to
help them alleviate themselves from poverty and meet their basic and immediate needs such as
shelter, food and clothing. The second objective is focused on social development; its focus is to
break the intergenerational poverty cycle through investments in human capital. (Cabral, 2008;
Fiszbein and Schady, 2009; Reyes and Tabuga, 2012; Fernandez and Velarde, 2012; Chaudhury
and Okamura, 2012; Ranario, 2012; Mapa and Albis, 2013; Reyes et al., 2015; Quimbo et al.,
2015; Vigilla et al., 2015; Frufonga, 2016; Montilla et al., 2015).

Beneficiaries
The beneficiaries are the ones who will profit from the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program.
According to the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction or also known as
NHTS-PR, the beneficiaries are chosen and rigorously filtered based on their economic status to
see who are the eligible and qualified to be considered as a beneficiary of the program (Tutor,
2014). The “listahan” or the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction
(NHTS-PR) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) uses the Proxy
Means Test (PMT). It is a statistical method used to find out where the poorest households in the
municipalities are located. The beneficiaries are chosen using PMT and it investigates the socio-
economic status of each beneficiary which takes into consideration the income and residence of
the household. (Ranario, 2012; Fernandez and Velarde, 2012; Chaudhury and Okamura, 2012;
Chaudhury et al., 2012; Fiszbein and Schady, 2009; Reyes and Tabuga, 2012; Velarde and
Acosta, 2015; Friedman and Frufonga, 2016; Rawling and Brière, 2006; Orbeta and Paqueo,
2016).

To be able to become an eligible beneficiary of 4Ps, one must meet the following criteria: First,
you should be a resident of the poorest municipalities, which are based on the 2003 Small Area
Estimates (SAE) of the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB). Second, your
household‟s economic condition shall be equal or even be lower than the provincial poverty
threshold. Third, at the time of assessment, a household shall have children belonging to the age
group of 0-18 years old and/or have a pregnant woman. Lastly, a household shall agree to the
terms and conditions provided by the program. (4Ps Concept Paper, 2009; Arulpragasam et al.,
2011; Fernandez and Velarde, 2012; Reyes and Tabuga, 2012; Chaudhury et al., 2012; Montilla
et al., 2015; Quimbo et al., 2015; Reyes et al., 2015).
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The chosen eligible beneficiaries must comply with the conditions set by the Pantawid
Pamilyang Pilipino Program. A beneficiary may only be part of the program for a maximum of 5
years and each household can only register three children per household. A household cannot re-
apply even if one of the child-beneficiary already reaches legal age. 5 years is the maximum term
of each beneficiary because it is hypothetically believed that in a span of 5 years, a household
already knows how to budget financially, learn skills which they can use to work, and has
already adjusted to the norms of the society. However, the term limit of five years was abolished
after Arroyo‟s administration because it was replaced with the rule that the household will still
be a beneficiary until the youngest child-beneficiary reaches legal age which is eighteen years
old.
The 4Ps head beneficiary shall be the most responsible adult person in the household which is
preferably and most commonly recognized as the mother of the household (Cabral, 2008; 4Ps
Concept Paper, 2009). A household may only appoint another member of the family as a head-
beneficiary only if the mother is not present (Tutor, 2014). Under some circumstances, a student
may also be appointed as the head-beneficiary (Fiszbein and Schady, 2009). The mother is
frequently appointed as the head beneficiary of the program because it is believed that the
objective of the mother is closely in line with the objectives of her children. Transferring the
cash grant to the mothers should presumably lead to a holistic development of her children
(García and Saavedra, 2017).

Subsidy
The subsidy is the money that the beneficiaries are receiving from the program on a bi-monthly
basis. The cash grants are delivered directly to the beneficiary with the objective of lessening the
possible further expenditures on the beneficiaries‟ side just to travel and redeem their bi-monthly
cash grant from the program. Originally, the subsidies were deposited through Land Bank of the
Philippines (LBP) which is a government depository bank and caters the withdrawal of the
beneficiaries through the use of Landbank Cash Cards.
The beneficiaries can withdraw their subsidy from the program through Land Bank ATM
machines with the use of their Landbank Cash Cards. On the other hand, in some areas wherein
there are no available Landbank ATM machines, 4Ps still finds a way to deliver the subsidy to
the beneficiaries in a convenient manner that is why they are partnering with other service
providers as alternatives such as Globe GCash Remit, local rural banks, local cooperatives, and
other local banks that are available mostly in provinces (Cabral, 2008; 4Ps Concept Paper, 2009;
Velarde and Acosta, 2015).

4Ps is considered as one of the most generous and most expensive cash transfer programs in the
world. About 23% of the beneficiaries‟ income are being received by the grantees on a bi-
monthly basis (Canare, 2017).
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The beneficiaries must ensure that they strictly follow the conditionalities set by the program in
order for them to receive the subsidy and other benefits being offered by the program. Some of
the conditionalities are: (1) pregnant women must have regular check-up and they should be
attended by a professional in their labor, (2) 85% of school attendance for the children, (3)
monthly attendance in the family development session, and (4) frequent checkup for children
aged 0-5 years old.

Women Empowerment
Since the mother is always considered as the head beneficiary of cash transfer programs, the
mother‟s empowerment was greatly highlighted under this project of the government (Frufonga,
2016). In contrary, Molyneux (2007) and Bradshaw (2008) argued oppositely saying that
appointing the mother as the head beneficiary and giving the cash transfers directly to them may
only distract them from their traditional roles as wives and mothers. Mothers being the head
beneficiary may only put more responsibilities and pressure on their shoulders that is why their
empowerment as a woman under cash transfer program promotes gender inequality and thus
resulting to the destabilization of their development. Molyneux (2007) and Bradshaw (2008), in
accordance with Alzua, Cruces and Ripani (2013), states that the mothers complying with the
conditions provided by the program is time consuming and may only result to the mother shifting
away from the true essence of motherhood which is taking care of her child/children, husband
and managing the household. The “worthiness” of a mother may also be seen outside the
household wherein maternalistic programs organize clubs and associations that support women
and children in empowering their rights and knowing what they should stand for (Dewitt, 2003).
Both parents are encouraged to join the monthly developmental session provided by the program.
However, only the participation of the mother as a head beneficiary is mandatory and required by
the program in compliance with their conditions (Tutor, 2014). Attending developmental
sessions and completion of the conditions of the program shall be the major responsibility of the
beneficiaries and shall be mandatory because it acts as a basic requirement to the household for
the continuity of the subsidy from the program (4Ps Concept Paper, 2009).

There has been a huge interest about empowerment long before it became a common topic on
social issues. Women empowerment specifically is defined by women as a way of having
complete and total control of their lives, involvement in decision making which affects their
personality, home, community, government and having skills which is essential to them as a
woman (Rahman, 2013).

If CCT programs help women know their rights, give them social support, provide them with
access to economic resources, encourage professional development and provide them with skills
which they can use to be able to work and generate income on their own, then their
empowerment would begin. The skills that they acquire can also be shared with other people and
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can therefore create a domino effect empowering each and every woman in the society (Barber
and Gertler, 2008; Fultz and Francis, 2013; Plagerson and Ulriksen, 2015).
CCT is widely used in many countries.

Some researchers have already done a research on the effect of CCT to women‟s empowerment.
Barber and Gertler (2008) have researched on how Mexico‟s conditional cash transfer program
raised pre-natal care quality and birth weight focusing on women‟s empowerment. According to
their research, Oportunidades (CCT in Mexico) have greatly affected women by providing them
with skills and social support that they need which empowers the women and increase their self-
confidence. Hassan and Zaky (2014), on the other hand, researched about the effects of CCT on
women‟s empowerment in Ain El-Sira, Egypt. Results from his research state that women have
been more inclined to their work and are more unaffected by domestic abuse and violence since
they have knowledge about their rights. Results also proved that after the implementation of
CCT in Egypt, women who are abused by their husbands have drastically been lessened and
decreased. In addition, after the implementation of CCT in Egypt, women have been more in
charged on the decision-making in their own respective households because her goals are much
more aligned to her children than that of her husband. In Ecuador, on the other hand, their CCT
program is called as Bono Desarrollo Humano, which shows that the program is effective in
promoting gender equality and women‟s access to information on healthcare, education and
nutrition of their children.

Philosophical Understanding of Women Empowerment

Aristotle
Aristotle is a very misogynistic person, he views women to be more inferior to men. According
to Cynthia Freeland's catalogue: “Aristotle says that the courage of a man lies in commanding, a
woman's lies in obeying; that 'matter yearns for form, as the female for the male and the ugly for
the beautiful'; that women have fewer teeth than men; that a female is an incomplete male or 'as
it were, a deformity': which contributes only matter and not form to the generation of offspring;
that in general 'a woman is perhaps an inferior being'; that female characters in a tragedy will be
inappropriate if they are too brave or too clever” (Freeland 1994: 145–46)

Plato
According to the paper, Women Empowerment: A Philosophical Appraisal, “Evidence abound in
philosophical circle about derogatory perception of women scholars such as Aristotle, Nietzsche,
Hegel and Descartes. Most women are discriminated against in performance of some duties not
because of their inability to carry out the action but because of their sex.” In the book of Plato
entitled “Republic”, he said that men and women in his ideal republic should both have equal
tasks and responsibilities.
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Hegel
According to the paper, Women Empowerment: A Philosophical Appraisal, “To Hegel he
understand that women by nature deshned to fulfill the role of passive embodiment, nature of
family values, while make assumes the challenge of progressively transcending, natural
immediacy, creating a cultural sphere of free moral actions politicians, science, religious and
philosophy. According to Hegel, women are capable of education, but are not made for activites
which demand a universal faculty such as the more advanced sciences, philosophy and certain
forms of artistic production. Women may have happy ideas, taste and elegance, but they cannot
attain to the ideal. Men are seen to have actual and substantive life in the state, in learning and so
forth while women have her substantive destiny in family. So they don‟t need education as
such.”

Nietzsche
According to Nietzsche, “The happiness of a man is: I will. The happiness of women is: he will”
Women Empowerment: A Philosophical Appraisal also added that, “Fredric Nietzsche, a well-
known existentialist philosopher but on the contrary was a misogynist. He saw nothing good in
women, he saw women as objects, which can be used for amusement. He holds that if you are
going to a woman to amuse yourself, do not forget the whip women are always seen as the most
conspicuous mischief of human race.”

Argument

Women empowerment is a very important topic in today‟s time because not only does it raise
awareness of how misogynistic society views women, it also educates people especially women
about their rights and capabilities. In a philosophical standpoint, women empowerment has been
a topic that is very controversial in a sense that various philosopher either are for or against it.

The author is against Aristotle and Platos‟s view of women wherein they view women as inferior
over men. In a qualitative research done by the author it proves how the effectiveness of a social
protection program can help women be more empowered through the benefits that they are
receiving. Thus, making women to be more socially engaged, globally competitive, politically
involved and personally aware. In addition, through the help of 4Ps, data have shown that
women beneficiaries have chances of domestic abuse than non beneficiaries. Women are also
more in control of the household and in family planning because of the seminars being
conducted by 4Ps.

The author would like to disagree with the misogynistic view of the Plato stating that women
should stick to their traditional roles in the household, sub serving men. Women who are
empowered through 4Ps has realized more of what they can do and are more educated on their
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rights as a woman. Not only in the household, women have exemplified in other ventures as well
such as in small scale businesses and social involvement.

Women have equal rights, power and opportunities to that of men. And misogynistic approach of
people and society against women should be shattered.

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