House minority hits Aquino's 'band aid' solutions to poverty

The House minority bloc on Wednesday criticized the Aquino government for its alleged "band aid" or short-term solutions to poverty. Zambales Rep. Milagros Magsaysay said President Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino should focus on long-term plans to alleviate poverty instead of the "Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program" (4P), which she described as “a band aid solution." The term band aid was coined from a popular brand of adhesive bandages used to stop wound bleeding. "Band aid solutions" is a term is often used to describe temporary measures that do not really address the problem. Conditional cash transfer In a press conference, Magsaysay said, “The beneficiary of this program is 2.3 million households but the President said that there are already 4 million considered in that category. They will provide dole outs to 2.3 million pero paano naman ang ibang mahihirap din that also need basic health care from the government." Out of the P34.3 billion proposed budget of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for 2011, P29.2 billion is allocated for conditional cash grants to extremely poor households. The DSWD will implement the cash transfer program for 582,000 of the Philippines’ poorest families using a $400-million loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). A "conditional cash transfer" is a welfare program wherein persons will be allowed to receive loans only if they comply with the government's conditions, such as: keeping their children in school or seeking regular health check-ups. Aquino defends 4P In a speech before urban poor in Cebu City, Aquino defended the 4P by saying that while it offers relief for those who need it most, it is not the government's only plan to combat poverty. "May mga bumabatikos sa programang ito. Tinuturuan daw nating mamalimos na lang ang Pilipino (There are critics of this program who say we're teaching Filipinos to ask for alms)," he said. The president continued, "Ang tanong ko sa kanila simpleng simple: kung tayo'y nandyan sa dalampasigan, sa beach, may nakita tayong nalulunod, may nakita tayong salbabida, ibinato sa taong yun, mali ho ba yun?" (My question is very simple: if you're on a beach and you saw a person drowning, you saw a life buoy and you threw it to that person, is that wrong?) Aquino said the government is primarily working to create jobs for the public, adding that thousands of new jobs would be generated after he goes to the United States next week where he will hold conferences with various businessmen. Scholarships, not "cash transfers" Magsaysay said the administration should put more emphasis on granting scholarships, especially in the tertiary level, to help people find jobs. “How can the poor people have a chance to upgrade the kind of living they have when they are not given the opportunity to be educated. And once educated, then you have a chance to get a job. That is why I am saying that instead of having band aid solution, we would rather attack the problem on a long term basis by giving more emphasis on this item," she said. House minority leader Edcel Lagman said the government should review the items for cash transfer which had inordinately ballooned or could possibly be used for partisan endeavors. He also expressed doubts that the DSWD can really handle the huge amount allocated to it. “Initially, we feel that the amount is so huge that the absorptive capacity of the department may not be equivalent to huge allocation and more over the indexation on who are the poor families have not yet been completed," he said. Budgetary lapses Magsaysay also noted the failure of the Aquino administration to allocate fund for capital outlay or infrastructures. “If you look at the budget, there is nothing much for capital outlay. How do you expect any growth if there is no capital expenditures? I don’t mind the increase in budget as long as the expenses are justified, why not?" she said. The lawmaker believed the present government refused to increase the budget to show that it is not spending too much unlike the previous administration. She feared that this move would stall the country’s growth. “Money begets money. If you don’t have money for capital expenditures, it will definitely stop the growth. I pity the agency, their budget needs more funds. Majority of their budget goes to salaries and MOOE (maintenance and other operating expenses). And yet they have a lot of vision, but how they can achieve this goal if they have no money," she said. The other budgetary lapses noted by the opposition lawmakers include: * The budget of the Department of Foreign Affairs, which was cut by almost 40;% the legal support for OFWs was slashed from P100-M to P27-M in violation of the newly amended Migrant Workers Act; * The allocations for the Supreme Court and the Judiciary, which was 50% lower than what the judiciary proposed; * The zero allocation for capital outlay for state universities and colleges; * The zero allocation for barangay and sitio electrification in the budget of National Electrification Administration, and * The inadequate funding support services to agrarian reform beneficiaries, in violation of RA No. 9700 or the extension of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law on land acquisition and distribution. Abad explains budget In an ambush interview with reporters in Cebu City, however, Budget Secretary Florencio "Butch" Abad pointed out that the judiciary's P14.1-billion is actually bigger than the P13.3-billion budget it received last year under the Aquino administration. "They actually got a 5 percent increase. They did not get a cut. What they were comparing is what they want, asked for, and what they got," he said. "What you should compare is what they got in 2010 and 2011 and in 2011 they got 5 percent more." Abad said they will start working on a possible dialogue with the judiciary to explain the budget and hear the side of the judges who reportedly protested the allotted budget for the courts.. About the supposed slash in the legal support for OFWs, Abad said the minority's claim was "not accurate." "If you look at that lump sum, that can be in fact prorated, and you can satisfy the minmum P30 million," he said, adding that he would further explain the figures once he gets back to Manila . The budget chief said that only 6.7 percent of the fund was used in June "so there's really more money that's available." Increasing the budget Lagman said the Aquino administration should not be wary of increasing the budget even if it will increase the projected deficit for next year. He added the Aquino should give the Congress supplemental National Expenditure Program to “provide additional budgets to inadequate and inexistent allocations for government agencies and mandated expenditures." “Since the Constitution prohibits the Congress from increasing the totality of the President’s budget submission of P1.6 billion, the possible solution is for the President to increase the expenditure ceiling through a supplemental NEP," he said. He said the government should look for additional revenues and sources of financing which should be “flexible and not cast in stone". “They should try to find out other avenues or additional sources of financing. I think the government should be more imaginative in budgetary engineering," Lagman said. Types of cash transfers Under the ADB-supported project, there are two types of cash transfers: child and maternal healthcare, and school enrollment and attendance. Poor mothers and pregnant women are eligible for cash grants based on the following conditions: (1) young children must receive regular health checkups and immunizations; (2) pregnant women must receive prenatal and postnatal care, and (3) parents must attend monthly family development sessions. Families can also receive an additional grant if: (1) their children are enrolled in primary or secondary school, and (2) schoolchildren will maintain a class attendance rate of at least 85% every month. –with Jam Sisante, VVP, GMANews.TV