Chiz wants livelihood package for every 4Ps beneficiary

Vice-presidential candidate Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero said there is a need to expand the government’s conditional cash transfer (CCT) program by including a livelihood package for its indigent beneficiaries.

Escudero said this would help transform the flagship poverty alleviation program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) into an economic program.

Incorporating a livelihood component in the CCT, also called the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), will equip recipients with skills and training to help them become selfsufficient and wean away from government dole-outs, Escudero added.

“We want to add another P in the 4Ps: Panghanapbuhay ( Livelihood). So that when the time comes they can stand on their own,” Escudero stressed.

The senator dismissed allegations bordering on a smear campaign that he and his running mate, presidential candidate Sen. Grace Poe-Llamanzares plan to discontinue the program if elected into office.

Expanding the 4Ps program, Escudero noted has always been part of the agenda of Partido Galing at Puso. He said these allegations are pure “black propaganda” by rivals in the May 2016 presidential and vice presidential race. Skills training

“Number one, this is black propaganda. Number two, it is a complete and flat-out lie because it is a contract by the government,” the senator said.

“Hindi natin pwedeng talikuran yan kahit sinong umupo bilang pangulo. Obligadong ituloy po yan (You cannot abandon the program even if another becomes president. We are obligated to continue the program),” he clarified.

But there is a need to step up the process of weeding out spurious names from the list of beneficiaries to ensure that only those who deserve will receive aid.

“Let’s just not give them fish; let’s teach them how to fish by giving them capital and skills training. That should be part of 4Ps,” said Escudero.

The DSWD, he said can provide capital for small businesses and collaborate with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) for the training of beneficiaries.

4.62M families The program currently shells out a monthly stipend of up to R1,400 to each family beneficiary provided their children attend school regularly and the mothers, if pregnant, seek pre- and post-natal care, as part of the government’s efforts to improve the health, nutrition and education of children from the poorest sector of society.

CCT beneficiaries are selected through the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR), which identifies and locates poor households in every community.

As of August, there were 4,353,597 families under the CCT program, including 570,056 indigenous households. Next year, enrollees are estimated at 4.62 million families, or 184,000 more than this year’s beneficiaries.

Social protection and economic empowerment programs make up the bulk of the proposed R104.1-billion earmarked for the DSWD in 2016, two-thirds of this, or about R62.7billion, will go to the development program.