PhilPost now into distributing CCT checks

Philippine Postal Corporation (PhilPost) is now in the business of distributing the money to beneficiaries of government’s conditional cash transfer or CCT program, and it’s not about the money.   PhilPost information officer Alvin Fidelson on Friday told GMA News Online that declining snail mail volume is not the reason PhilPost decided to distribute CCT money, considering that PhilPost revenues have always been on the low side of the bottomline.   "PhilPost accepted the delivery of CCT service by the government for humanitarian work to assist the government achieve its goal to serve the Filipinos," he said.   Now, the poorest of the poor families in some provinces can claim their monthly cash from government by visiting the nearest PhilPost station in their respective areas.   PhilPost covers the provinces of Ilocos Sur, Davao del Sur, Cavite, Ilocos Norte, Palawan, Rizal, La Union, Benguet and Mt. Province, said Fidelson.   In partnership with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), PhilPost is now a payout center for beneficiaries of government subsidy in far-flung barangays.   “This is PhilPost’s way of helping the present administration assure efficient delivery of services to the less-fortunate, especially in remote areas,” PhilPost said in a statement, citing Postmaster General Josie dela Cruz.   According to PhilPost data, the postal service delivered 156,165,480 mails in 2011, down 24 percent from 206,107,210 in 2010.   Last year, PhilPost said it gained P110 million in income largely due to business mail. But it posted P200 million in revenue loss in 2010.   Since it started delivering CCT subsidies on March 19, PhilPost said it distributed more than P50 million worth of checks to more than 10,000 families.   Forty-five percent of Filipinos consider themselves as poor during the last quarter of 2011, according to pollster Social Weather Station.     Out of the Philippines’ 22 provinces with the highest number of poor families–DSWD data showed–PhilPost is able to serve only Davao del Sur.   CCT, or the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) is a poverty reduction strategy that targets the poorest households in the country.   The program gives P500 per household for health and nutrition expenses, and P3,000 per child per school year.   DSWD said about two million beneficiaries of the program were registered as of July 2011. —VS, GMA News