DSWD: Additional P16B for CCT program to benefit more poor kids

Social Welfare and Development Secretary Corazon "Dinky" Soliman on Monday defended the proposed additional P16 billion for its conditional cash transfer, saying it will benefit more poor children next year. Soliman said the department plans to increase the number of CCT beneficiaries to three million households in 2012, which will be given a total of P13,000 each next year. "The budget is biased towards the poor and the vulnerable sectors... This will keep poor children in school and keep them healthy," she said during a budget hearing at the House of Representatives Monday. Under the CCT program, the poorest of the poor families identified by the government would receive monthly stipends on condition that they would send their children to school while pregnant mothers would undergo regular checkups. A total of P39 billion of the P1.8-trillion budget for 2012 was allocated to the CCT program—an 89 percent increase from the P23 billion allotted for the project this year. Soliman likewise said the CCT program has “positive impact on beneficiaries" so far, with more poor schoolchildren getting immunizations and attending classes regularly, which are requirements for their parents to receive the cash grants. "The beneficiaries understand that it is a co-responsibility and that there are conditions they have to comply with for them to continue receiving cash grants," she said. She added that DSWD is already crafting “exit plans" for CCT beneficiaries, such as the provision of entrepreneurial skills to poor households. "The DSWD and the beneficiaries are aware that the program is only good for five years... We recognize the need to open up opportunities for sustainable livelihood to continue support for health and education for children," she said. — Andreo Calonzo/RSJ, GMA News