CEBU CITY: Beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) in Central Visayas can use cash grants from the government through point of sale (POS) terminals, a social welfare official said Thursday. Shalaine Marie Lucero, director of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) 7 (Central Visayas), said the POS was developed by the agency in partnership with the accredited partner merchants of the Land Bank of the Philippines. 'They can withdraw. They can check if the grants are available. They can use (the POS) to pay bills or buy groceries or medicines,' Lucero said in an interview on Thursday. The POS also enables the beneficiaries to have fund transfers and open LandBank prepaid cards. According to her, the POS system was introduced in an event called the LandBanKasama Digital Inclusion Program caravan in Carlos P. Garcia town in Bohol on Jan. 18. She said some of the town's 200 4Ps household beneficiaries were the first to experience the convenience of checking and using the ir cash grants through technology. The POS system, she said, would expand financial services and enhance financial inclusion for the 4Ps beneficiaries, particularly those in the region's remote and underserved areas. 'In 4Ps, one of the major program outputs is that conditional cash grants received by our beneficiaries under education and health grants and rice subsidies reach on time and in the correct amounts, and that is where our partner LandBank of the Philippines is instrumental in ensuring they receive them every payment period,' she said. She said the program aims to empower 4Ps beneficiaries by reducing transaction costs and enabling savings on travel expenses for those residing outside major urban centers through the LandBanKasama partners. Source: Philippines News Agency