SPEAKER Pantaleon Alvarez has backed the proposed “Magna Carta of the Poor” that seeks to uplift the lives of the poor by strengthening the government’s anti-poverty programs and implementation of other social development strategies.
These are to be done in partnership with government agencies, nongovernment organizations, people’s organizations and other partners.
Alvarez maintained the Lower House would prioritize the passage of pro-poor bills.
Alvarez was referring to a substituted bill to House Bills 31, 232, 478, 1122 and 1895 authored by Reps. Raul del Mar of Cebu, Rodante Marcoleta of Sagip party-list, Jose Antonio Sy-Alvarado of Bulacan, Gary Alejano of Magdalo party-list, and Salvio Fortuno Camarines Sur.
The bill had been approved by the House committee on committee on poverty alleviation, and was being readied for plenary discussion.
The bill provides for the poor’s right to adequate food.
It mandates the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Department of Agriculture as well as other implementing agencies to undertake actions to mitigate and alleviate hunger especially in times of natural or human-induced disasters, and fully implement and maintain supplementary feeding programs in day care centers and schools among others.
As for the right to decent work, the bill tasks the Department of Labor and Employment to ensure that the poor have access to employment openings.
“Thirty percent of the skilled labor requirements of private contractors and subcontractors doing national and local public works projects funded by the national or local government must be filled by qualified workers who come from the poor sector,” the bill’s authors said.
Maintain a system of free public education in the kindergarten, elementary and high school levels; make higher education open to all poor individuals and families and ensure access to quality technical/vocational education and training through scholarships, subsidies and financial assistance, the bill states.
The bill also states that on the right to adequate housing of the poor, the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council and other implementing agencies shall prioritize the implementation of the socialized housing program with identified appropriate subsidies and create an enabling environment that will assist the poor gain access to security of tenure with the least financial burden among others.
Funding for the poverty programs and projects under the Act shall be sourced from the existing appropriations as authorized under the GAA of the different departments and agencies.
“The main objective of this important piece of legislation is to uplift the standard of living and quality of life of the poor and address the need to provide the poor with sustained opportunities for growth and development,” Fortuno said.
“Poverty alleviation should be the government’s utmost concern by requiring employment opportunities to be created and expanded to provide decent and productive means to the poor and ensuring basic rights to food, shelter and education that often takes the back seat,” Alvarado said.