P62-billion conditional cash transfer

September 16, 2013
As the nation grapples for right responses and moves on the expose on the scam of pork barrel funds of senators and congressmen amounting to billions of pesos, the Department of Budget and Management, which is at the vortex in the release of the billions of pork barrel funds, has announced that it has increased the proposed budget for the Conditional Cash Transfer project more popularly known as Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) from P44 billion this year to P62.6 billion in 2014.
In making the announcement, the DBM headed by Secretary Florencio Abad stated that the increase under the General Appropriations Act of 2014, more commonly known as the national government budget, was done to uphold President Benigno Aquino III’s bid to expand the 4Ps program and lower the dropout rate among the country’s poorest high school students.
The DBM chief stated that the fund for Conditional Cash Transfer program  is part of the P78.7-billion budget under the Department of Social Welfare and Development which is at the forefront in the distribution of the funds to thousands of poor and indigent persons amounting to P1,600 each month. “Under the 4Ps, the DSWD provides cash subsidies to the country’s poorest families, with the condition that each beneficiary-household avails of maternal and child health care services and keeps their children in school,” said Abad.
Many sectors of the Philippine society are lauding the government for its efforts to provide a monthly stipend of P1,600 every month to each poor family so their children can go to school and have something to eat. But the project which was initiated by the Arroyo administration based on the Brazilian experience, has come under heavy questions since it was first implemented. For one, many say P1,600 was too small and the government is also spending billions of pesos just to distribute the money throughout the country. But the more serious concern is that the money was encouraging the poor people to be mendicants and solely dependent on that small amount and that thousands of them were losing their interest to work and undertake livelihood projects themselves to augment their income and improve their economic social standing in life. It would have been more appropriate for the Aquino administration which is serious in its “tuwid na daan” policy to re-study this “mendicancy” and “dependency” program and come out with more enterprising and viable projects to make the citizens more productive instead of immediately increasing the CCT outlay to staggering P62,6 billion!