KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews / 10 February) — Nearly 1,400 contractual workers implementing the 4Ps or Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) are set to become regular government employees within this year, an official said.

Mohammad Muktadir Estrella, director general of the Ministry of Social Services and Development (MSSD), said the move would ensure the security of tenure of 4Ps workers across the Bangsamoro region who have been serving under the Contract of Service (COS) scheme.

The 4Ps program, which is administered by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DWSD), is the national government’s poverty reduction strategy and human capital investment program that provides conditional cash transfer to poor households.

In the Bangsamoro region, the MSSD implements the 4Ps program with the cash grants for the beneficiaries funded by the national government.

“With no security of tenure during the contract of service arrangement with our 4Ps workers, we had the experience of workers resigning because they are given employment opportunities elsewhere,” he said.

Due to the lack of security of tenure, Estrella noted the MSSD has been recording high resignation turnover among the contractual 4Ps workers in the BARMM, which affected the delivery of program implementation as those left may have been “overloaded with work and could not deliver the service designed by the program for the beneficiaries.”

“We cannot fault them because they also have to think about themselves, their career growth, their career development,” Estrella, a lawyer, said.

Currently, there are 1,175 COS workers hired by MSSD, agency data showed.

Based on the assessment to better deliver the 4Ps program across the Bangsamoro region, Estrella said the MSSD needs at least 1,363 regular positions for the program.

“We want to assure the Bangsamoro communities that only those who have worked so tirelessly to implement and enforce the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program would be prioritized in the regularization,” he said.

MSSD Minister Raissa Jajurie directed the strict screening process in the hiring of regular 4Ps workers.

Jajurie is slated to sign the appointments of at least 500 regular 4Ps workers in the BARMM in the first week of March.

Estrella said they are targeting to fill up the total 1,363 regular positions not later than June 2026.

The Bangsamoro region comprises the provinces of Maguindanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi, and the cities of Marawi, Lamitan and Cotabato.

Cotabato City serves as the seat of government of the Bangsamoro region, which was established in 2019. (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)