Aquino: SWS survey may have failed to include govt beneficiaries

President Benigno Simeon Aquino III on Friday said the recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showing a higher incidence of hunger may have failed to include as respondents the beneficiaries of government programs for the poor. During a press briefing, Aquino said he could not reconcile the result of the survey with the reports submitted to him by his Cabinet secretaries and the business community. “Tinanong ko rin ke (Social Welfare) Secretary Dinky Soliman bakit nga ba ganito kasi pati sa DOLE ipinapakita sa atin ang numero ng mga nadagdagan ng trabaho, ang report ng business community sa atin yung actual na trabahong ipinagkaloob nila. Minsan hindi ko rin mareconcile yan," he told reporters. He believed the discrepancy was because the bulk of the data came from the National Capital Region and balance Luzon. He said those who benefitted from the CCT program were mostly from Visayas and Mindanao. “Yung CCT unfortunately, yung 400,000 na idinagdag sa program, bulk nun ay sa Visayas at Mindanao. So nagkataon sa statistical sample na ginamit, e hindi nacapture yung natulungan na ng CCT," Aquino said. He, however, admitted that if the reverse happened, the result would be skewed because the respondents would say that their lives were alleviated through the CCT. The President said the government cannot cover the 1.3 million families targeted to become CCT beneficiaries in a week. He also explained that the 400,000 beneficiaries came from Visayas and Mindanao because it was in these regions that the highest incident of hunger was posted. “Pag gagawa ka ng survey sinama mo yung Luzon na hindi nasama dun sa majority na nabenipisyuhan, paano lalabas na umasenso sila. We believe the CCT program has been helping but yung poverty level natin dito, there are 4.6 m families below poverty line and bulk of the population is in Luzon," Aquino said. – VVP, GMA News