Mindanao nuns call govt P30-B cash program 'anti-poor'

Catholic nuns in Mindanao have criticized a P30-billion (US$674 million) government cash assistance program for poor families, describing it as “anti-poor." In an article posted in the Union of Catholic Asian News website on Wednesday, nuns in Mindanao said the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (Aid to Filipino Families Program or 4Ps) will not alleviate poverty. The 4P program provides poor families, especially those with children and pregnant women, with an allowance of up to 1,400 pesos (US $30) a month per family. The project, managed by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), aims to deliver cash aid to some four million people over the next two years. "While helping poor Filipinos is a priority, the government’s idea of giving dole-outs will not be enough to alleviate poverty," said Sister Elsa Compuesto of the Missionary Sisters of Mary, who is the executive secretary of the Sisters’ Association in Mindanao (SAMIN). Compuesto said the program will only offer temporary relief and not uplift the poor from poverty. "(The government) can do better by seeking long-lasting solutions to poverty, such as agrarian reform and jobs creation," she said. “Change must come when there is social justice for the poor," she added. However, Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman defended the program, saying it is not a “doleout" because “it sets conditions on beneficiaries to ensure their education and health." The families that are qualified to avail of the aid must have children, aged 6 to 14 years old, who are enrolled in schools. Pregnant women, on the other hand, must receive prenatal and postnatal care. Soliman said similar conditional cash transfer programs have been successful in South America. Although it is considered to be the country’s food basket, “self-rated poverty" on Mindanao rose to 56 percent in June, according to a survey by Social Weather Stations (SWS). –VVP, GMANews.TV