PRESIDENT Rodrigo Roa Duterte will convene the en banc assembly of the National Anti- Poverty Commission today—the first time in 10 years a sitting President will do so.
An en banc assembly is the event where the President meets with NAPC officers, representatives from the basic sectors, and heads of national government agencies to come up with a national, synchronized action plan to alleviate poverty in the Philippines.
Before the en banc assembly, NAPC Undersecretary for Basic Sectors Maria Corazon Tan—on behalf of NAPC lead convenor Liza Maza who is in Rome—met with the NAPC Technical Action Officers-Technical Working Group at the Department of Agriculture last Jan. 23, Tan said in a press statement.
The Tao-TWG “serves as the converging point for basic sectors and national agencies in coming up with pro-poor, anti-poverty resolutions,” Tan said.
She added matters that could not be resolved at the Tao-TWG level would be elevated to the en banc for the President’s decision.
“The en banc is crucial for coming up with coordinated and sustained anti-poverty programs and projects across all agencies of government. It ensures harmony and efficiency in the implementation of the President’s anti-poverty thrust,” Tan said.
The last NAPC en banc assembly was held on July 30, 2007, during the time of then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. No en banc assembly was held during the entire six years of President Benigno Aquino.
Maza, in Rome as part of the government’s delegation in the ongoing peace talks with the National Democratic Front, said in a text message: “We take steps to ensure that the voices of the poor reach the halls of Malacañang. We, in NAPC, are glad that a sitting President, after 10 years, has once again taken the lead in addressing poverty issues and concerns.”
NAPC, created in 1998 thru Republic Act 8425, serves as the coordinating advisory body for the implementation of the President’s Social Reform Agenda.
Maza reiterated that NAPC was not an implementing agency but rather “an agency tasked to coordinate, monitor, evaluate and exercise policy oversight of the government’s anti-poverty programs and projects.”
NAPC does not give dole-outs. The agency, instead, ensures active participation and representation of the basic sectors in governance. The government and the people should ‘push pa more’ to safeguard the rights and welfare of the poor, because everyone wins when poverty is alleviated, Maza said.