Gloria, son Dato sign manifesto vs cash-transfer scheme

Former President and incumbent Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has added her name to the growing list of lawmakers opposing the P21 billion conditional cash transfer program, just a day after grilling the secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development which is the lead agency in implementing the program. Aside from Mrs. Arroyo, her son Camarines Sur Rep. Diosdado “Dato" Arroyo and 13 more lawmakers signed a manifesto against the CCT program, bringing to 52 the number of Lower House signatories. The other recent signatories are:

• Northern Samar Rep. Emil Ong,
• Southern Leyte Rep. Roger Mercado,
• Capiz Rep. Jane Castro,
• Cavite Rep. Lani Mercado,
• Pangasinan Rep. Leopoldo Bataoil,
• Occidental Mindoro Rep. Amelita Villarosa,
• Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez,
• Lanao del Norte Rep. Aliah Dimaporo,
• Maguindanao Rep. Simeon Datumanong,
• Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman,
• Pampanga Rep. Aurelio Gonzales,
• Lanao del Norte Rep. Imelda Quibranza-Dimaporo, and
• Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez.

Thirty-seven lawmakers had earlier signed the manifesto. (See: 37 solons oppose Aquino's conditional cash transfer program) The lawmakers opposing CCT vowed to work instead for the realignment of CCT-allocated funds to the construction of schools, hospitals, health centers, housing, agriculture, and other social programs that directly address the needs of the poor for jobs, livelihood and services. They questioned the wisdom of allotting such a substantial portion of government’s scarce resources to CCTs, given the grave lack of funds for basic social services and economic services. “The (CCT is) a costly palliative, an unsustainable program of dole-outs that will perpetuate the politics of patronage and encourage a culture of mendicancy. CCTs cannot take the place of a long-term strategy that addresses the root causes of poverty through asset redistribution and job generation," the lawmakers said. The manifesto will be presented to the House leadership for consideration. The chamber has 278 members, 52 of whom are partylist representatives.
Worries about implementing CCT During Tuesday’s hearing, Arroyo said the Aquino administration seemed ill-prepared to fully implement the program, which seeks to cover 2.3 million poor families. She also called the program ambitious and untimely. (See: Arroyo grills former best buddy on P34-B DSWD budget) Instead of funding the CCT heavily, Arroyo said the government should realign the budget for classrooms and birthing units. She also cited the need for more funds in Mindanao "where there is so much poverty." "It would be irresponsible to allocate a budget for the program that is not yet fully prepared," she said. "The details may look very nice on paper but—I've been there—the implementation is certainly not that simple," Arroyo added. Before Arroyo’s interpellation, Pangasinan Rep. Carmen Cojuangco expressed apprehension that the money grants given to beneficiaries could be used to bet on jueteng. “Coming from province of Pangasinan, the first thing a mother would do is buy shoes and groceries and the husband will go out and buy some gin and whatever is left in the money is for bet, he would probably go and play jueteng. So guess who’s going to be beneficiary from CCT? Our jueteng lords. I’m sorry, this is how I feel, these are my apprehensions," Cojuangco said. Meanwhile, DSWD Secretary Corazon “Dinky" Soliman, who also served under Arroyo as her Social Welfare and Development secretary, defended the CCT program by saying the government and the people only need to trust the poor. “The people in the city don’t trust the poor. The poor knows better than us," Soliman said in an interview with reporters.—JV, GMANews.TV