Aquino admin expects to spend P306B more for CCT program

The Aquino administration needs to allocate P306.6 billion more from the national budget to be able to meet its targets for the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program in the next five years, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said Monday. DSWD chief Corazon "Dinky" Soliman said the government is projected to spend the amount to be able to provide cash assistance to 4.6 million poor Filipino families by 2016. "Ang pinakalayunin ng CCT ay siguraduhin na manatili sa eskwelahan at bigyang-pansin ang kalusugan ng mga mahihirap na batang Pilipino," she said during a budget hearing at the House of Representatives. Of this amount, P276 billion will be needed for actual cash grants to poor households, while the remaining P30.6 billion will be for the program’s operational expenses, she added. The amount does not include debt payments for loans obtained for the program, as well as money the DSWD plans to spend to provide "sustainable" livelihood programs for the CCT beneficiaries as part of the program’s "exit plan." Under the CCT program, formally known as the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino 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. Worried Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Teodoro Casiño meanwhile expressed apprehensions about the "huge" amount the national government has to spend for the next five years to sustain the CCT program. "I’m worried about Secretary Soliman’s revelation that the government will be spending P306.6 B for the CCT in the coming years... when there is no impact assessment yet and when they [the DSWD] are even unsure of the statistics to be used in determining the beneficiaries," Casiño said in a text message on Monday. Casiño added that the DSWD only conducted "spot checks" on the beneficiaries to determine the impact of the program on their lives. He likewise said the CCT program should no longer be expanded and that the amount should be set aside instead for health, education and job generation. "Such a huge amount of government resources are better used for generating jobs, improving healthcare facilities and public schools instead of a dole-out program with questionable outcomes," he said. Regular updates Meanwhile, Deputy Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas said the DSWD should provide regular updates to congressmen regarding the implementation of the CCT program in their respective districts. "Once we give you the budget, we don’t see you anymore... Programs come in our district without you informing us," Fariñas said in the same hearing. Soliman, for her part, said she will immediately issue a memorandum circular directing DSWD field offices to submit general monthly reports on the CCT program to House members. She also vowed to provide party-list lawmakers a monthly report on the program’s national implementation. — RSJ, GMA News