Abstract:
The World Bank reported that poverty reduction efforts worldwide will continue to slow
down in the current decade, especially with the identified polycrisis contributing to the cause.
Thankfully, the Philippines is expected to rise above the challenges of the polycrisis due to the
effective poverty alleviation and social support systems present in the country. The Pantawid
Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) has been identified and championed as one of the contributing
factors to this claim. With its human capital investment and social protection strategy
frameworks, online articles reveal the many success stories while statistical reports center on the
improvements on national child health, child nutrition, and child enrollment rates brought about
by the program. Additionally, post-program policies are also present in continuing the
developmental changes cultivated by the graduated households of 4Ps. Despite the praises
however, there remains to be limited knowledge on the life of the graduates after 4Ps. The two
available studies on the theme reveal parallelistic results, one of adaptability and one of
struggles. In response, this study explores the knowledge gaps on the matter, in particular: The
educational, health, and financial conditions of the graduate households, the aftercare programs
available and accessible, the observed benefits that contributed to the sustained development of
the families, the strengths and weaknesses of the aftercare program processes, and the
recommended changes to be implemented to the aftercare programs. These were conducted
through semi-structured interviews with 8 4Ps household respondents from Barangay Fairview,
Quezon City that graduated from the program between the years of 2023 to 2024 and were
deemed self-sufficient level 3 in their last two SWDI evaluations. The data was analyzed using
Thematic Analysis and SWOT Analysis through the Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach and
DFID’s Sustainable Livelihood Approach lens. From the results, it was concluded that the
graduate households see themselves as independent enough in their educational, health, and
financial endeavors and actively find ways to improve on their condition as evident by the
subscription to aftercare programs of some households. The health-centered aftercare programs
follow the Capability Approach framework but the education and financial-livelihood aftercare
programs still need to follow through. Finally educational aftercare programs are identified as the
critical need of the families, with its selection of eligible beneficiaries as the main change they
wish to be implemented.
