"The conditional cash transfer program should be modified."
"The conditional cash transfer program should be modified."
Conditional cash transfer has been implemented in at least 18 countries including the Philippines for about three decades now, with Brazil having started the program in the early 1990s.
CCT, which even the acknowledged richest economy in the world, the United States, had adopted in 2010, aims to reduce poverty by providing welfare programs conditional upon the beneficiaries' actions. Simply put, the government (or a charity) only transfers the money to persons who meet certain criteria, which might include enrolling children into public schools, getting regular check-ups at the doctor's office, receiving immunizations and other similar programs.
In short, CCTs seek to help the current generation in poverty by uplifting the lives of the beneficiaries, thereby breaking the so-called cycle of poverty.
In the Philippines, the CCT had around for more than a decade now. The program was started during the term of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The administration of former President Noynoy Aquino continued the program, renaming it to Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or simply 4Ps, wherein conditional cash grants are extended to extremely poor households to improve their health, nutrition and education particularly of children age 0-14.
However, from the very start, there obviously was no intention from the Aquino administration to uplift the lives of beneficiaries through the 4Ps as from a few hundred thousand households during Arroyo’s time, the number of beneficiaries ballooned to 4.5 million before Aquino stepped down in 2016.
If the CCT’s intention was to reduce poverty, Aquino’s pursued the contrary, promoting a culture of mendicancy among the Filipinos through his 4Ps.
The debate on the correctness of the 4Ps program has again been raised following the billions of pesos the government had allotted to the program’s beneficiaries in order for them to cope up with crisis triggered by COVID-19. This was after some of the beneficiaries complained that the additional monthly P5,000 to P8,000 doles would not be enough their monthly expenses. At the most, some said, it could only last a week.
And while the middle class were left fuming mad at the supposed ungratefulness of the 4Ps beneficiaries, a video showing a program beneficiary gambling went viral on the social media, eliciting more angry reactions from netizens, even calling for the program’s termination.
Actually, the viral video showing a beneficiary gambling even as the President had placed the entire Luzon Island under community quarantine is not an isolated case. There are even cases when beneficiaries would pawn their ATM cards just to raise gambling money.
In fact, former Department of Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol questioned the viability of the 4Ps, saying the beneficiaries are simply waiting for money from the government rather than making them productive.
And it is for this reason former Candaba Mayor Jerry Pelayo has sought to modify, not only the 4Ps, but also the Unconditional Cash Transfer Program.
Expecting the pandemic to have a long-term effect on the economy, Pelayo is proposing that beneficiaries of these programs be clustered and taught to form cooperatives.
The Department of Trade and Industry, Pelayo said, should focus on teaching financial literacy and management to said beneficiaries with the help of the barangay and private sector.
According to Pelayo, expanding micro, small, and medium enterprises is the only real and sustainable long-term solution in feeding the poorest of the poor, and not through a program which promotes mendicancy.
The proposal to reinvent the program is actually only a part of a series of programs Pelayo has proposed to President Rodrigo Duterte through a letter via a letter he sent through Senator Bong Go.
The former Candaba mayor is also proposing for local government units, members of the House of Representatives and the Senate to postpone all their infrastructure projects and realign savings to these most affected sectors.
The singular focus, Pelayo said, should be food on the table for the poorest of the poor while maintaining peace and order in the country.
Another novel idea is to introduce an Adopt-a-Family program wherein those who are able to sponsor the needs of cash-strapped families could do so during this most crucial time.
This scheme, according to Pelayo, can also be applied to big businesses helping micro enterprises which do not have the liquidity and capacity to reopen after the lockdown.
Lastly, Pelayo wants the Buy Lokal campaign be promoted as this would increase the competitiveness of local enterprises, he says.
While all of his proposals appear viable, it is the 4Ps aspect which needs to be attended. Not only will it make the beneficiaries productive. It could also appease the middle class who now see themselves as the milking cows of some of the beneficiaries who have given up on making themselves productive.
