Senators want to slash cash-transfer allocation

Less than 24 hours after the House of Representatives approved on Monday the 2011 budget as proposed by the Aquino administration, three senators said they want to slash the P21-billion allotment for the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program. Senators Edgardo Angara and Gregorio Honasan on Tuesday said they want to cut the CCT budget to P15 billion. On the other hand, Sen. Francis Escudero said he wants to cut it down to P6 billion. A part of the P29.2-billion Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the CCT is supposed to cover up to P1,400 in monthly stipends for 2.3 million poor families nationwide. “The DSWD might not be able to digest the P21-billion budget. That’s an over 100-percent increase. If it’s P15 billion, it’s just a 50-percent increase — more manageable," Angara told reporters at the Senate. He said he supports the CCT. But with the kind of money involved, the government cannot “experiment" with its implementation. "I believe in this program. It can be an effective poverty fighter. [But] you will not be able to help the poor if you do not control your spending... They’ll be condemned to perpetual poverty," he said. Research and development projects of selected state universities and colleges, as well as the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Science and Technology can benefit from the P6 billion that should be cut from the 2011 CCT allotment. Doubts over program Honasan supported Angara's position on the amount the CCT money should be cut. "To me the CCT, whatever we call it, is a dole out whatever the conditions are. I support Sen. Angara's proposal to reduce it," he said in an phone interview with GMANews.TV. As to why the House of Representatives passed the cash transfer budget to without any amendments and despite the controversial debates surrounding it, the former Army colonel said, "After all the objections we raised, why did we approve it as it is?" Escudero also doubted the DSWD's capacity to distribute P21 billion to poor deserving families. "I am concerned about DSWD's absorptive capacity and [and about the] possibility of corruption and favoritism," he said in a text message to GMANews.TV. Should his position on the matter be followed — to give the program only P6 billion — Escudero said he would redistribute P5 billion to the Department of Education’s school building program, P5 billion to the Department of Agriculture and the National Food Authority, P4 billion to the DOH's hospitals nationwide, P1 billion to the judiciary's compensation package. Give CCT a chance Still, Senators Franklin Drilon and Francis Pangilinan, staunch supporters of President Aquino, took the position that lawmakers and the public should give the CCT a chance. "The President needs our support in order for him to fulfill his anti-poverty campaign promises. We must put our money where our mouth is and this is what we need to do to address poverty head on," Pangilinan told GMANews.TV in a separate text message. Drilon, chairman of the Senate finance committee, said he is “inclined" to support the budget while giving Aquino and his administration a year to show they deserve public support. "If after one year we can see that this administration does not implement properly what we authorized in the budget, then we will be less sympathetic next year," he told reporters in a separate interview Tuesday. He reminded the public that the P21 billion might not be fully available by January because the releases of some funds are staggered. Angara is adamant, saying he is confident of other senators seeing the wisdom of his proposal. Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, meanwhile, said the Senate needs to study the project. “We have to look at it objectively, find out [if] it is workable," he said in another interview. “How can we check the recipients," he added. Whether the Senate will approve the 2011 budget as it is remains to be seen. “Reduction is a given power of Congress. Whether that will be exercised or not will depend upon our study of the budget," Enrile said. The Senate expects to receive the 2011 General Appropriations Bill no later than Wednesday, Drilon said. A bicameral conference is scheduled for the GAB by mid-December. — VS, GMANews.TV