Philippines DSWD launches biometric system for Conditional Cash Transfers

The Department of Social Welfare and Development in the Philippines has launched a biometric system in the Municipality of Upi to ensure that the country’s Conditional Cash Transfer program is implemented absent of fraud and manipulation.

The conditional cash transfer system, known as the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, was devised by the Philippine Government and is intended to ensure qualified beneficiaries can safely and reliably claim cash payments.

The new biometric system relies on fingerprint recognition to verify the identity of recipients, as complaints that there are people claiming grants who are not beneficiaries of the program have arisen.

“Our biometric system is a way to ensure that the beneficiaries are the ones receiving the cash grants,” Department of Social Welfare and Development Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman said.

According to the DSWD website, the new system immediately displays the photo of the beneficiary and the amount of cash grant to be received after the identification.

Soliman says the verification is also faster because the system is connected to the Compliance Verification System where the Department of Education and the Department of Health monitor attendance of children and Rural Health Unit checkups.

The implementation of the program, according to Soliman, constantly improves as DSWD looks for different ways to direct help to the deserving. She attributed the increase in enrollment rate, health checkups, and number of children who are present in schools to the ensuring of proper program implementation.

According to the DSWD website, as of February 20, 81,201 out of 156,188 targeted beneficiaries in Maguindanao and 17,554 out of 80,177 targeted beneficiaries in Lanao del Sur are already registered in the new system.

Reported in BiometricUpdate.com, The Commission on Elections in the Philippines has recently announced that the numbered of registered voters for the country’s May elections has reached more than 52 million, the highest total ever recorded to participate in the country’s elections.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  facial recognition  |  fingerprint  |  fraud  |  government  |  verification