THE government should help those affected by natural calamities and include the “near-poor” in its dole program because disasters are pushing thousands of families toward poverty, Senator Grace Poe said Wednesday.
She made her statement after Typhoon “Nona”—international name Melor—ravaged parts of Eastern Visayas and the Bicol region, and in particular Mindoro, Samar and Sorsogon.
More than 700,000 people were evacuated after many towns experienced flooding and power outages.
“Hundreds of thousands of Filipino families flee their homes in the face of calamities,” said Poe, an independent presidential candidate in next year’s elections.
“Their fate rests entirely on events they can’t control. Often, they lose their livelihood and come home to shattered houses.
“Disasters increase the number of people at risk of becoming poor or those that fall under the “near- poor” category.”
A 2014 research by the Philippine Institute of Development Studies says the families identified as near-poor are not poor but have little or no buffer against economic shocks.
Families in the Near-Poor Threshold have a monthly income of at least P12,400 and have a few assets but can easily become poor should a problem arise.
As a result, Poe proposed expanding the government’s Conditional Cash Transfer program to cover this sector that is driven to the edge or to just above the Total Poverty Threshold or TPT. The Philippine Statistics Authority places 25.8 percent of the Philippine population within the TPT. “Increasing the CCT budget by 10 percent or an additional P6 billion can cover those who are vulnerable and likely to fall below the total poverty threshold when a disaster or conflict happens,” Poe said.
The government allocated P62.7 billion for the CCT or dole program in 2016.
Aside from the NPT, the cyclical poor or those in and out of poverty are also considered vulnerable during times of disasters.
“We must help these sectors get back on their feet by making them eligible for cash grants. Otherwise, they will fall into the poverty trap and it will be so much more difficult to help them.