Case studies show dole program hurts recipients

THE women’s group Gabriela on Monday said some recipients of government dole had to stop working to qualify for the cash payouts, while others received less than the promised amount, indicating an avenue for corruption.

In a privilege speech, Gabriela Rep. Emmi de Jesus argued against increasing the funding for the government’s conditional cash transfer program to P39.8 billion in 2012 from P21.9 billion this year, saying the dole in some cases was making life more difficult for its recipients.

She cited some 100 case studies undertaken by the Center for Women’s Resources in the cities of Manila, Pasig, Muntinlupa, and Malabon and the provinces of Sorsogon, Camarines Norte, Nueva Vizcaya, Negros and Mindoro.

“These cases are true-to-life experiences of women who received help from the government’s conditional cash transfer program,” De Jesus said in Tagalog.

She said most of the women were mothers and had no regular jobs. Some earned a living by selling cigarettes, salt and assorted small items, while others took to scavenging, sewing, or doing laundry or household work.

“The findings of the CSW study show that the women had to give up work for days to be able to comply with the requirements and force their children to school even without taking breakfast just so they would not be de-listed as recipients,” De Jesus said.

Some women had to give up earning P50 to P400 a day so they could go to health centers for their check-ups as part of the program’s requirements, but since there was only one doctor attending to so many women and children, doctors would often tell the women to return the next day.

“The poor woman has no choice but to return the next day even if it means losing another day of income, and when the doctor finds something wrong with her health, her problem is aggravated. She doesn’t have the money to buy the medicines,” De Jesus said.

To make matters worse, she said, a study showed that the dole was not coming on time. The payments were coming in quarterly or even five months later, so the daily needs of the schoolchildren were not being met.

Each child is entitled to P300 a month for as long as they attend school 85 percent of the time.

“That means 15 pesos a day, but since the doles do not come regularly as scheduled, the mothers are forced to send their children to school even without breakfast,” De Jesus said.

The conditional cash transfer program says each qualified poor family gets P500 a month, plus P300 for each child who attends school for 10 months.

While recipients were grateful about qualifying, the program later “became a burden, especially when the cash grants come five months late,” De Jesus said.

Some case studies showed that recipients did not get what they were supposed to get, opening the door to corruption, she said.

She urged her colleagues in the plenary to oppose the increase in the government dole, proposing instead that the funds be used directly for social services that could have a direct impact on the lives of the poor by providing jobs, health and education.

Had the government spent the dole on health and education, it could have hired an additional 101,612 teachers and built 66,800 classrooms, 2,573,212 chairs and 135,847 sanitation facilities, De Jesus said.

President Benigno Aquino III had asked that the program be given a chance to work, but she noted that the dole started with his predecessor and had been around for five years.

“We should stop the dole. The people need jobs instead and real social services such as health and education,” De Jesus said. –Christine F. Herrera, Manila Standard Today