THE Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has extended until December 2018 the suspension of the conditionalities for the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program for its beneficiaries who were affected by the Marawi siege. Officer-in-Charge Emmanuel Leyco of the DSWD said the suspension, which would have been lifted after March 2018, has been extended to complement the agency’s Sustainable Livelihood Program and accelerate the recovery of the internally displaced persons. Pantawid is the Pantawid para sa Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), the Filipino name of the CCT initiative which started in 2008. “We’d like to assure the people of Marawi that DSWD, along with other government agencies, will stand ready to address their needs,” Leyco added. President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law in Mindanao last May 23 to suppress a supposed rebellion led by the Maute group in Marawi City.

Source: Manila Times December 15, 2017 07:52 UTC