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Robredo, NEDA call for unity to achieve PHL 25-year plan vs. poverty
Government officials underscored the need to unite behind the Philippines' 25-year plan to wipe out poverty, known as "AmBisyon Natin 2040," approved and adopted by the Duterte administration last month.
At the AmBisyon Natin 2040 Summit on Tuesday, Vice President Leni Robredo noted while the country has had economic advances, the mindset that the poor must wait for benefits to trickle down to them must be challenged.
"Our people shouldn't have to wait for economic gains to trickle down to them. The poorest in our country do not have the luxury of waiting, not when their lives are a daily gamble for survival," she said. "We must take an active position in fighting poverty and ensuring long-term and inclusive growth in the country."
"After all, when we think of growth, we imagine something rising from the ground up, from the deepest and sturdiest of roots. In much the same way, we should boost anti-poverty initiatives on the grassroots level, even as we maintain our macroeconomic strengths and shore up our good governance reforms. But if we want to accomplish all of this, we need to work together," she added.
She also noted the importance of having a "far-reaching" vision on addressing poverty instead of "many a stop-gap solution."
"This vision of a transformed Philippines should not be hampered by our fears. Instead, this vision must be far-reaching: it must protect the welfare of the generations that will succeed us," she said. "This country has suffered the consequences of many a stop-gap solution: quick fixes that only aggravate the problem, shortcuts that only put our people's lives in danger."
"It's time to be more ambitious about our dreams. It's time to be more intelligent about how we make those dreams come true," she added.
Robredo's office recently launched its own Anti-Poverty Framework, with focus on five key advocacies, namely: healthcare, food security, education, rural development, and women empowerment.
The initiative linked an initial 50 local government units to private organizations and companies willing to extend their assistance. The framework received 716 pledges from 288 "development partners."
Robredo, who concurrently serves as chair of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), noted the shift to "comprehensive and community-oriented" government urban housing solutions.
"We hope that this will help NEDA achieve the goals of Ambisyon Natin 2040, which validate that homes are the top aspiration of the Filipino family," she said.
‘Matatag, maginhawa, panatag’
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia echoed this call for the public to rally behind the long-term vision, noting that "AmBisyon Natin 2040" is focused on the Filipino family, and the people's dream of a life that is "matatag (strong), maginhawa (comfortable), at panatag (secure)."
With this, they mapped our three main strategies, including "malasakit," or enhancing the social fabric; "pagbabago," or reducing poverty and inequality; and "kaunlaran," or increasing potential growth of the economy.
"Through this framework, the government is committing itself to the signing and implementing of appropriate policies, programs, and projects through the next six years that will bring the Philippines closer to what we Filipinos aspire to be," he said.
"But as we keep saying, while we recognize the key role of government in achieving people's aspirations, a large part of the effort comes from the people—from you as individuals, as groups of organizations, communities, and families," he added.
"AmBisyon Natin 2040" was adopted via executive order last October 11, and is dubbed as the current and succeeding administrations' guide to the government's development planning.
It aims "to triple per capita incomes and eradicate hunger and poverty by 2040, if not sooner," and also mandates the identification of appropriate set of milestones to guide the successive medium-term development plans. —KG, GMA News
