Bridging Filipino families through (dis)empowered mothers? An analysis of the impact of 4Ps-CCT at Tagbac, Lubang, Occidental Mindoro on the empowerment of its women beneficiaries

Abstract

This study analyzed the impact of conditional cash transfer component of 4Ps or Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps-CCT) in the Philippines on women empowerment. The 4Ps-CCT is a poverty reduction and social development strategy of the national government that provides conditional cash grants to extremely poor households to improve their health, nutrition and education. The main objective of the study is to examine whether the said program promotes the empowerment of its female beneficiaries. Benefiting from the voices of women beneficiaries, survey questionnaires and one-on-one interviews were used as the main data collection instruments. In the survey, a total of 82 respondents were selected through simple random sampling from Brgy. Tagbac, a rural community at Lubang Island, Occidental Mindoro. In-depth interviews of five women beneficiaries were also conducted during the fieldwork. The findings of the study showed that aside from having extra cash to meet the basic needs of the family, there are other advantages that were gained by women through participation in other activities of the program. The increased mobility for women has led to new insights gained through family development sessions and expansion of their social interaction with other women. But while women showed a positive perception of their involvement in the program, 4Ps-CCT still proves to be palliative as it gave no other opportunities for women to increase their family income or skills. The study also found other unintended negative impacts of the program. The program being perceived as a “gift from the government” has led to a degree of divisions and tensions between beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries in the community. Time burdens, marginalization of men in the program activities and dependency on the program were seen as other disempowering effects of the program.