The Leyte Provincial Government in the Philippines has developed and deployed a biometric system for the purpose of authenticating recipients of cash grants from teh Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Pantawid para sa Pamilyang Pilipino (4Ps) project.

As reported on Asia Pacific Future Gov, the cash grants are given to extreme low-income households for the purpose of feeding and schooling children. The past system of grants utilized ATM cards, but it was uncovered that recipients were using these as loan collateral.

Implementing the biometric system will force the enrollee to claim and withdraw the grant in person.

The Maguindanao province also plans to implement the system. After that, it will roll out to the rest of the country. Over 3 million people are enrolled in the 4Ps project.

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