SENATOR Cynthia Villar has called for a review of the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program after she said it has failed to reduce poverty incidence in the country.
During the Senate briefing of the Development Budget Coordinating Committee on the proposed P3.35-trillion national government budget for 2017, Villar asked Department of Budget and Management Secretary Benjamin Diokno to review the program and find ways to improve it for the poor.
“I support CCT but can we review the model of our CCT? We have been doing CCT for the last six years, you said the poverty figure did not move from 27 percent. The target of the Aquino administration is 17 percent but it didn’t move after doing CCT. I just want you to review the model of our CCT,” Villar said.
The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) is the Philippines’ CCT program where 4.4 million households are enrolled and provided with cash grants to improve the health, education and nutrition situation of the poorest of the poor.
With a budget of P78.7 billion this year, the program is the largest CCT program in the world, next to Brazil with 8.8 million households and Mexico, with 6.5 million household beneficiaries.
Villar, chairman of the Senate Committee on Social Justice and Rural Development, urged the economic managers to look at how successful CCT programs are done in other countries.
She cited the Brazil model where farmers are required to grow crops. The government buys their produce and feeds the school children. She also added that in Thailand, they require 6 million school children to drink 200 ml of milk every day, which brought up their dairy industry.
“This means they are making rich dairy farmers, enriching farmers, and then giving good nutrition to children who will grow up to be intelligent because they drink milk and they eat the right kind of food,” Villar said.
She said the Philippine model does not require production in exchange for cash assistance and it is very difficult to check if the conditions are met by the beneficiaries.
Cash assistance was granted with the condition that beneficiaries will have regular health check-ups and the children will be enrolled in school.
“I just want to ask you, review our model of CCT. I don’t mind spending for CCT, but make sure that the model is right. Our model might be wrong,” she said.