Government readies next step for CCT beneficiaries

THE GOVERNMENT is considering a transition period for beneficiaries of the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program once it ends in 2015.

“We are currently looking at ways to ease beneficiaries out of the CCT program because some of them will not be out of poverty by 2015,” Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad said on Monday as economic managers presented the proposed 2013 national budget to the Senate.

While, the government can no longer give cash subsidies, the Budget and Social Welfare departments are eyeing a program of continuing employment for the beneficiaries.

“For example, the DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) is thinking of hiring CCT beneficiaries to do the maintenance work of roads in their communities,” Mr. Abad said.

“The MOOE (maintenance and other operating expenditures) funds of the DPWH will then pay for the wages of these workers,” he added.

The CCT or the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program is the Aquino administration’s main poverty mitigation measure. It gives cash grants to poor households, provided that the mothers avail of pre- and post-natal care check-ups and their children are immunized and attend 85% of their classes. Beneficiaries can receive a monthly stipend of up to P1,400, or P500 per mother and P300 each for up to three children.

The CCT program is allocated a hefty P39.445-billion budget this year, with the aim of reaching 3.105 million households.

It will be further expanded next year, with a share of P44.256 billion in the P2.006-trillion proposed 2013 national budget. It targets to help 3.8 million beneficiaries.

Last week, several economists also spoke of the importance of the program, which has been constantly criticized by detractors for providing dole-outs to the poor.

“Welfare programs like CCT work pretty well in reducing poverty. It is a sign of a nation investing in its young people,” George Mason University economist Tyler Cowen said at the inaugural conference of think tank the Angara Centre for Law and Economic Policy.

While others have questioned the size of funds allocated for the CCT program, Mr. Cowen questioned: “Can any other project give you ongoing gains, 40 to 50 years from now? This kind of welfare gives the Philippines healthy and better-educated children.”

University of the Philippines economist and Monetary Board member Felipe M. Medalla also said that the funding for the CCT program will not “break the budget.”

“In fact, I can think of so many government programs that we can cut down on, but not CCT,” he said.

Mr. Medalla pointed out that the only stumbling block of the project so far has been accurate identification of qualified beneficiaries. But even then, the government’s “batting average” has been “quite good,” he noted. –Businessworld