Gov’t plans to infuse P9 B for poverty reduction projects

CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga – With the 6.4 percent economic growth in the first quarter of this year, the government plans to infuse an additional P9.02 billion for “priority poverty reduction projects.”

National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) director-general Arsenio Balisacan said this was “to combat poverty and attain” Millennium Development Goals (MDG) by 2015.

Balisacan told members of the Regional Development Councils in their 4th national convention here that the funds would include the budget for the conditional cash transfer (CCT), also known as the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino (PPP) program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

“The government will not let up in its efforts to accelerate economic growth, recognizing that there is still considerable room for faster spending. We will also remain vigilant against growth risks, including those posed by the euro area woes and the uncertainties in the world price of oil,” Balisacan said.

The NEDA chief also bared plans to “strengthen consumption and investments at the household level, in particular among the poor and vulnerable.”

This is through the creation of “decent and productive employment” and the implementation of CCT, he said.

“Most recent data show that CCT has reached more than three million household beneficiaries,” Balisacan said.

He said that “to combat poverty and attain MDG by 2012, the Department of Budget and Management is infusing an additional P9.02 billion for priority poverty reduction projects of participating government agencies through the bottom-up budgeting approach.”

“Growth over the near-term will also be supported by major infrastructure projects identified by the Private-Public Partnership Center. So far, the PPP Center listed 22 projects,” he said.

Balisacan said these PPP projects “are intended to improve transportation connectivity through roads, airports and seaports, boost agricultural productivity, increase water service areas, and raise the quality of education and health.”

He noted that the 6.4 percent economic growth in the first quarter of 2012 translated in employment of 1.101 million. “Employment generation was more pronounced in the services sector, followed by industry,” Balisacan said.

“The continued strong inflows of remittances, robust inbound tourist receipts and low inflation environment contributed to significant increases in employment creation, particularly in the services sector which fueled domestic spending,” he added.

Militant groups have criticized the government’s plan to give a higher P45-billion budget for DSWD’s CCT next year, in the face of reports of “corruption and political patronage” marring the project.

“It is turning the country into a republic of mendicants and beggars,” said Anakpawis party-list chair Fernando Hicap and the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) led by Salvador France.

This year, the CCT budget is P34 billion.

The group cited complaints from fishing areas in Sorsogon, Cavite and Laguna where supposed beneficiaries reportedly get less of their monthly allocation of about P1,400, while others report not getting their share at all.

France and Hicap said the P45 billion of “hard-earned taxpayers’ money” should not be treated as a “national charity fund” and would find better use in “creating jobs, implementing social justice-driven land reform, and providing the country the much needed resources for education, social services, and mass housing.”

They said the fund could also be used “to fund agricultural development and rural industrialization which is liberating, productive and thorough-going compared to the useless and corruption-driven CCT.”

They lamented the CCT has only perpetrated mendicancy and turned poor folk into “objects of charity.” They said Washington and the International Monetary Fund-World Bank are authors of the project.

“Instead of approving the CCT budget of P45 billion for next year, senators and congressmen should instead pursue in-depth investigation and audit-performance of the CCT program which was introduced by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo,” the statement of the two leaders said.

They also called on Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. to “prioritize the oversight review of the CCT and study its relevance as soon as the President has finished with his State of the Nation Address.”

Budget Secretary Florencio Abad earlier said the 30 percent increase in the CCT budget would represent about two-thirds of the DSWD budget for 2013.

Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman, however, said her department is seeking a total of P67 billion for next year, including the P45 billion for CCT to cover an additional 700,000 poor families nationwide. –Ding Cervantes (The Philippine Star)