Senate may pass P21-B CCT budget intact, says Angara

The Senate may pass the controversial P21-billion budget of the Aquino administration’s conditional cash transfer (CCT) program without any cuts, Sen. Edgardo Angara said Wednesday. “I think more or less it will remain intact," Angara said in an interview with reporters. Angara, along with senators Gregorio Honasan and Francis Escudero, had earlier sought to cut the CCT budget by at least P6 billion. Angara said that other senators asked them to give the project a chance. “If it’s proven that you cannot spend P21 billion in one year, then we won’t authorize a similar amount next year," he said. The CCT program will give an estimated to 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 (4Ps) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). This year, the CCT budget was only P12 billion. The budget of the DSWD was likewise increased by 123 percent — from P15.4 billion in 2010 to P34.3 billion — for 2011. For now, Angara said that senators are more concerned about the “safeguards" to properly implement the program. On Tuesday, Senate finance committee chairman Sen. Franklin Drilon said that they will propose a special provision requiring the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to release the CCT money directly to government depository banks. In places where there are no government depository banks, he said the DBM may deposit the money in rural and other thrift banks accredited by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. The House minority bloc had earlier criticized the Aquino administration for its alleged “band aid" or short-term solutions to poverty, which supposedly includes the CCT. The House eventually approved the 2011 General Appropriations Bill without cutting on the CCT. As of this posting, the budget deliberations at the Senate are ongoing. — JE/VS, GMANews.TV