Senate scrutinizes DSWD cash transfer program

The Senate on Monday asked the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to explain in writing how it plans to implement the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program, whose budget the Aquino administration increased by 75 percent in its bid to alleviate poverty. Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., a member of the Senate finance committee, said that the government gave the CCT P21 billion under the 2011 budget or P9 billion more from P12 billion this year. The CCT is supposed to give 2.3 million poor families a monthly stipend of up to P1,400. The program is part of the P29.2-billion Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps of the DSWD. Senator Franklin Drilon, head of the Senate committee on finance, said that the senators are "generally supportive" of the program, but that they need to make sure there is proper monitoring given the amount of public funds devoted to it. "Given the magnitude of the program, we [have] to examine it closely," he told reporters in an interview after the Senate budget hearing Monday. Drilon said that they have asked the DSWD to submit a paper on how they intend to identify the beneficiaries; how they plan to implement the program; and how they intend to monitor its progress. Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman, who was present during the hearing, said that the department would submit the paper within two days. "Nais namin makita kung puwede pang pagandahin yung sistema (We would like to see if the system could still be improved) …so we do not have incidents when deserving or needy families and households fall through the cracks," Marcos said. He suggested that the DSWD widen the role local government units in implementing the program, specifically in identifying poor families in different localities. The finance committee is yet to decide on whether or not to summon DSWD officials again, Drillion said. "If my colleagues in the committee would have more questions, we are open to calling them again." Earlier, the House minority bloc criticized the Aquino government for its alleged "band aid" or short-term solutions to poverty, which supposedly include the CCT. The Aquino administration increased by 122.7 percent to P34.3 billion the DSWD 2011 budget from P15.4 billion this year in a clear policy shift toward social services. —VS, GMANews.TV