Poverty

While on vacation the other weekend in my hometown in the heart of Leyte, I chanced upon a spirited conversation among some members of my extended family during one of the usual impromptu gatherings. It seemed they were in a fix trying to find logic about something that an aggrieved relative—a widowed mother of five…

MANILA, Philippines – The administration of President Aquino would provide livelihood programs to the country’s poorest of the poor who are also beneficiaries of the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program to give the people a sustainable income.

MANILA, Philippines – The government will launch tomorrow a five-year program aimed at providing guaranteed employment to beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), the government’s conditional cash transfer (CCT) program.

“Give a man a fish and he will live for a day. Teach a man how to fish and he will live for a lifetime,” this is one of the best known quotes by the Taoist philosopher Lao Tzu. This quote has often been cited in a number of negative feedbacks regarding the Pantawid Pamilyang…

CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga, Philippines – Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman yesterday said some lawmakers had been “misinformed” when they called for an immediate exit from the government’s conditional cash transfer (CCT) program.

Two reports, released one after the other by financial and economic think tanks that have found Manila nearly the cheapest city worldwide when it comes to cost of living, come with a downside: they also disclose that Manila has low wage and purchasing power levels. They indicate that while Manila may be a boon to…

THE congressional allies of President Benigno Aquino III are headed for a clash today with Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman over when the government will end its multi-billion-peso dole program and how many recipients there should be.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines’ conditional cash transfer (CCT) program could increase annual incomes of beneficiaries by 12.6 percent, resulting in the reduction of poverty incidence by 6.2 percent, simulations by the World Bank (WB) and the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) showed.

THE GOVERNMENT’s cash grant scheme for the poor is expected to raise annual income of beneficiaries and at the same time reduce poverty level, the World Bank said in a statement on Friday.

THE lawmakers who went to Mexico to study its conditional cash transfer program on Tuesday urged the administration to end its own P21.9-billion dole, saying they did not want the Philippines to go through the same difficulties that the Latin American state had been going through.

The Commission on Audit (COA) on Thursday revealed that not all beneficiaries of the government’s conditional cash transfer (CCT) program in 2009 were actually qualified to receive stipends.

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.

MANILA, Philippines – Government economic managers expressed optimism that the administration can bring down the poverty incidence to 16.6 percent by 2016, 10 percentage points lower than the 26.5-percent in 2009.

MANILA, Philippines – Beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) believe that access to a regular job rather than conditional cash assistance would help them rise from poverty, a recent study by Social Watch Philippines (SWP) showed.

It was worth looking at how Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program works in Mexico, why it has been able to help so many people, and how the program ensures proper use of the resources which are given to the beneficiaries. This, in a nutshell, sums up Leyte Governor Carlos Jericho L. Petilla’s insight on the…

OVER 432,000 families in the country’s remote areas received P2 billion in cash under the government’s Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program, officials said on Wednesday. Paolo Baltao, the president of G-Xchange Inc. (GXI), the mobile commerce subsidiary of Globe, said that the P2 billion cash grants went to the 432,510 households in 300 far-flung municipalities…

Manila, Philippines – The latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey released yesterday showed that the number of Filipino families who consider themselves “poor” and “food-poor” or those who have experienced hunger have slightly declined in the past three months.

MANILA, Philippines – The beneficiaries of the P21-billion conditional cash transfer (CCT) program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development have already reached two million, boosting the anti-poverty agenda of the Aquino administration. Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda described the development as a “milestone” in government efforts to help the poorest of the poor.

The Aquino administration yesterday claimed that the marked improvement in the country’s self-rated hunger ratings is the best demonstration that the government’s conditional cash transfer (CCT) program is working.

Washington D.C.—A new study by the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) spotlights the impact of World Bank-supported programs in protecting the most vulnerable during the last decade. The study shows that the majority of social safety nets (SSNs)—programs designed to protect the poor from shocks and contribute to reducing chronic poverty—achieved their objectives. In several countries…

At this time, the word from the chairman of the Senate finance committee, Sen. Franklin Drilon, a staunch ally of President Aquino, is that he isn’t quite buying the appeal of the social services secretary for an additional P2 billion for the already controversial conditional cash transfer (CCT), although bets are on that when Aquino…

CEBU, Philippines – Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) warned the beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilya program that cash grants should not be subjected to any abuse, such as using them as collateral or guarantee for loans.

MANILA, Philippines – Two lawmakers are calling for a review of the implementation of the government’s multi-billion Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program.

SOCIAL WATCH Co-Convener Marivic Raquiza considers it “very one-sided” that the government monitors compliance by beneficiaries – the so-called demand side – of the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program, but not the supply side, which the national and local government should take care of.

SHE HAD neither bought a lotto ticket nor joined a TV game show. But Marissa felt like she won the jackpot anyway late last year, when her family was chosen as one of the recipients of the government’s Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) Program.

Manila, Philippines – The 2.3 million beneficiaries of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) will receive cash grants from the government as early as September this year.

It is known in different names in different places. In Mexico where it began and has been equally successful at reducing poverty, it is Oportunidades. In Brazil, where it is even bigger, it is known as Bolsa Familia. In the Philippines, it is Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino or 4Ps.

THE Department of Finance (DOF) said on Thursday that the US government has extended a multimillion grant to fight poverty in the Philippines.

Cagayan Rep. Jack Enrile said the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) should be made to account on how the funds allotted for the government’s conditional cash transfer (CCT) program are being disbursed before making any increase in the project’s funding.

P2B AUGMENTATION MAY BE ILLEGAL — LAGMAN Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman and Budget Secretary Butch Abad may likely find themselves in hot water after House members bared their intention to hold an inquiry into the P2-billion additional budget allotted for the controversial conditional cash transfer (CCT) program bloating its appropriation this year to P23…