Palace: Govt may increase stipends to CCT program beneficiaries to address inflation

The government will review the stipends it gives under its conditional cash transfer program to address the impact of inflation on the purchasing power of beneficiaries, who are from extremely poor households.

"Kaya ito po ay isang bagay na puwedeng i-address ng pamahalaan sa pamamagitan ng patakaran... hinggil doon sa budget na inilalaan para dito sa programang ito at sa paglalahad ng susunod na budget para sa susunod na taon, tiyak na tutukuyin ito, na baka puwedeng repasuhin ‘yung halaga na ipinamamahagi dito sa conditional cash transfer program," Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said on dzRB Radyo ng Bayan on Sunday.

The CCT, or the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, is the administration's flagship poverty-alleviation program.

It gives families cash for keeping their children in school and bringing them to local health centers for check-ups.

According to the Official Gazette, beneficiary families receive health grants of P500 a month and education grants of P300 per child every month for 10 months, or P3,000 a year. A household can register up to three children in the program.

Some P62.3 billion of the P2.6-trillion national budget for 2015 is allocated to the CCT program, from P62.6 billion in 2014.

Coloma cited the impact of inflation to the purchasing power of Filipinos.

"Kung limited na nga po ‘yung budget, tulad nga ‘nung ibinabahagi nating cash transfer sa mga benepisyaryo ng 4Ps at CCT, siyempre po ‘yung halimbawa ay five percent inflation nakakabawas din po ‘yon doon sa kanilang kapasidad na bumili ng pagkain at mga pangunahing bilihin," the Palace official said.

Full-year inflation averaged at 4.1 percent in 2014, faster than the 3 percent registered in 2013.

The CCT program was not "ineffective totally" since it has reduced the number of poor in the country, Coloma said.

"Hindi naman po naging ineffective totally nang dahil sa nabanggit na ‘yan na inflation dahil nakatamo naman po tayo ng mahalagang pagsulong doon sa kampanya para mabawasan ang kahirapan," he said.

Coloma cited data from the Philippine Statistics Authority that the number of poor Filipinos went down to 24.9 percent in 2013 from 27.9 percent in 2012.

The poverty level was at 33.3 percent in 1991, he said.

"Samakatuwid, sa loob ng 21 taon mula 1991 hanggang 2012 ay five percent lang halos ang ibinaba ng antas ng kahirapan, samantalang ‘nung naipatupad na itong 4Ps at CCT program ng DSWD, naibaba po ‘yung dami ng maralita na nasa 24.9 percent na nga po," Coloma said.

However, poverty situation worsened in the first half of last year due to calamities like Typhoon Yolanda that hit the country in 2013, Coloma said. — Kathryn Mae P. Tubadeza/JDS/KG, GMA News