Without 4Ps, more Filipinos will go hungry

THE good news from the Social in hunger incidence— from an average of 12.3 percent in 2017 to 9.9 percent in March 2018. This drop came amidst some bad news, however: Unemployment

The explanation for the decline in hunger against the backdrop of rising unemployment and in-

rice subsidy added by the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) since March last year. This raised the maximum monthly cash grant per household to P2,600, representing a P500 health grant, P300 per young child ( daycare to elementary school age) and P500 for high school level child, maximum of three children per household.

million households. It is a conditional cash transfer program and is being implemented by the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

While P2,600 is a far cry from the official poverty threshold of about P9,000 per month per family, the immediate objective of 4Ps is social protection, not poverty alleviation. However, the program’s long- term goal is to at least contribute to the reduction of poverty. The program helps poor families have cash to buy food and other basic necessities— provided they comply with certain conditions. These conditions include weight monitoring of children aged 0 to 5 years, for children to be immunized and de- wormed, and a minimum of 85 percent school attendance. A 4Ps- recipient’s child is more likely to finish high school, cash and incentive considered, and thus better equipped to find gainful employment or maybe even proceed to college. In this way, the government hopes to break the cycle of inter- generational poverty. Not having completed— or even reached— high school is common among the poorest of the poor.

The poorest of the poor—the target beneficiaries of 4Ps— are likely to go hungry without help from the government, especially when prices are increasing. To cushion the negative effects of the TRAIN Law on prices of basic commodities, the government is now giving P200 per month to 4Ps recipients and to an additional 5.6 million households. In 2019, the P200 will become P300, raising the maximum monthly cash grant

The free tuition in governmentowned universities introduced this year is another government program primarily benefiting the poorer families. This is a big help to students even if many of these public schools already charge low tuition compared to private colleges and universities. Philhealth coverage has also been expanded.

The services and subsidies provided by the national government don’t come cheap. 4Ps has an annual budget of more than P70 billion.

While we can always question the wisdom of the government’s priorities and how funds are allocated, there is no doubt that a sudden suspension or removal of an existing tax could cause serious disruption in the implementation of government programs, including those targeting the poor, as revenues would fall below target. While the recent increases in fuel prices and the expected domino effect on cost of production and services are alarming, hitting the panic button might make matters worse. Nobody likes taxes but they are the lifeblood of government.

Going back to the 4Ps, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol criticizes the program calling it a dole- out (

May 24, 2018), a view shared by many. Don’t just give a poor

fish, as the saying goes. Piñol wants to put the 4Ps’ P70 billion budget under his department, to improve agricultural productivity and stem the exodus of workers from the agriculture sector.

Indeed, the very low productivity in the agriculture sector is one of the root causes of poverty in the Philippines and the reason why people migrate to urban areas. Workers leaving agriculture for jobs – even the lowly paid ones that dominate the labor market – in the services and industry sectors contributed 25 percent to poverty reduction ( World Bank: Economic Update April 2018). The biggest contributor to poverty reduction is higher nonagricultural wages. The government’s cash transfer program is estimated as contributing about 25 percent to poverty reduction.

Entrepreneurial activities had an overall 15 percent negative impact on poverty reduction. In other words, simply giving loans or grants for small businesses or livelihood, or providing skills training related to such livelihood development do not necessarily help poor families escape poverty.

The advantage of the cash grants under the 4Ps program is that it, being a social protection program, directly and immediately alleviates the worst effects of poverty. It is a stopgap measure, not a perpetual assistance program. The transition out of poverty for a majority of the poor and improved quality of living and economic security for the middle- class are the anticipated socio- economic dividends resulting from the government’s “build, build, build” program and investorfriendly economic policies.