House to vote on govt's P29-B cash transfer program

As more lawmakers have opposed the government's Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program, the House of Representatives will vote on whether it will scrap or retain the P29 billion fund set aside for it in 2011. There is no definite date yet on when the voting would take place but it will be before the approval of the entire proposed budget. The House appropriations committee reached this consensus last week as it acknowledged the growing concern against the CCT, Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño said in a press conference. "Aside from the vote on the budget itself, naging decision ng House appropriations committee that there will be a vote specifically on the CCT whether ito ay ipagpapatuloy o babawasan o anuman," he said. He said House minority leader Edcel Lagman proposed the voting. "Ibig sabihin it is really a big concern for most congressmen...marami na kaming nakausap na kapwa kongresista w (This means that this is really a big concern for most congressmen...we have spoken with many fellow lawmakers) who have very critical views on the CCT both in the minority and the majority," Casiño added. "Marami din kasing interested na sa tingin nila masyadong malaki yung (There are many who are interested because they think it is too big a) budget so some kind of slash I think is the consensus pero syempre nilalabanan ng executive," said Casiño. However, Casiño cannot give a head count on how many lawmakers will be voting against the CCT. Casiño appealed to his colleagues’ better sense of judgement on the matter. "Alam naman ng mga congressmen ang ibig sabihin ng CCT (The congressmen know what CCT means). They have enough experience to know that this is a dole out, that this can be used for elections. For some politicians ito yung gusto nila. We cannot tolerate that," he said. In the same press conference, Gabriela Rep. Luz Ilagan said CCT is not the solution to poverty as it only promotes the attitude of mendicancy. "We should teach them how to fish. This CCT is merely a dole out and does not empower people to look for opportunites or get skills to find jobs," she said. ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio said with the CCT, the role of the government is reduced to merely giving incentives to the poor. In a press statement, the progressive party list bloc composed of the Bayan Muna, Gabriela, Anakpawis, ACT Teachers and Kabataan protested the fact that the doubling of the CCT fund was made at the expense of health, education, power and irrigation which suffered significant cuts. "We call for the realignment of CCT allocations to said essential services. The Aquino administration’s move to expand the previous administration's CCT program is a clear indication of its lack of foresight and eye for critical social investments," they said. They said doling out cash for the poor to avail of health services and send their kids to school is, in essence, a fake fix for the Millenium Development Goal targets. "Instead of letting such large amounts of money slip through our fingers, why not invest it directly in public schools, health centers and hospitals which in turn provide free and quality education and health care for all, especially the poor?" they said. –VVP, GMANews.TV