16K purged from ‘poorest of poor’ list

MANILA, Philippines—More than 16,000 people have been purged from the list of almost a million “poorest of the poor” under the government’s conditional cash-transfer program because they are either unqualified or their names were entered twice, Social Welfare Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman said Monday.

Soliman said the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) cleaned up the list of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), a five-year conditional cash transfer (CCT) scheme, after receiving complaints from the ground and conducting an internal investigation.

The cash transfer program provides a monthly stipend of P1,400 for families to support three children in basic school (14 years old and below are each allotted P300 a month) and a breast-feeding mother (P500 a month).

Regular receipt of the allowance depends on compliance.

Government seeks to extend the program to some 4.6 million Filipinos identified to be the poorest in 79 provinces.

Soliman said the program was ongoing in 28 provinces, covering 168 barangays (villages) in 58 towns.

The DSWD has recorded some 2,000 complaints about unqualified beneficiaries from communities where the 4Ps program is being implemented.

“Some were removed on the basis that they shouldn’t be beneficiaries, like there were some reports that some teachers, government workers were included in the list,” Soliman said at a press briefing.

Others were delisted due to redundant entries in the DSWD’s master list. The department has initiated efforts to better monitor the system, including involving community organizations and district officers of legislators.

‘Very minimal’

Soliman, however, considered the number of people removed from the list “very minimal” as the program covered close to a million recipients to date. By December of 2011, government hopes to cater to an additional 1.3 million poor Filipinos.

“As you can see, the system detects and corrects problems early,” she said.

The DSWD is asking Congress for P34 billion for 2011 (more than twice its current budget of P15 billion), P29 billion of which is for the CCT program.

“The budget is only 3.4 percent of the national budget and poverty incidence accounts for 33.9 percent of the population. So, this is a drop in the bucket even while, if you look at the increase, it looks too big,” Soliman said.

The 4Ps program is DSWD’s largest nationwide program and is the first to directly hand over cash to poor Filipinos, she said. The program is being implemented with the health and education departments.

“This is the first time that there will be a transfer of cash or asset reform from the government budget directly to the hands of the poor. It has not happened in the history of the DSWD,” Soliman told reporters.

The DSWD will embark on a three-month 4Ps road show starting Wednesday to touch base with partner organizations and implementing agencies on the ground, she said.

Abad’s appeal

Budget Secretary Florencio Abad appealed to lawmakers not to touch the P29-billion allocation for the CCT program and the P15-billion support for the public-private partnerships, which are crucial provisions of President Aquino’s 2011 budget.

He told reporters Monday that the funds for the cash transfer program were tied with the country’s commitment to meet the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), including the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, the reduction of child mortality, provision of universal primary education and the improvement of maternal health.

“We are appealing to the lawmakers, if possible, not to touch [the CCT funds], especially since the President has just come from a conference on the MDGs. We have a commitment to the UN that by 2015 we will meet the deadline in achieving the MDGs,” Abad said.

He said that despite the country’s limited funds, Mr. Aquino wanted substantial allocations for the CCT program to benefit more poor Filipinos. –Tarra Quismundo, Philippine Daily Inquirer with a report from Leila B. Salaverria