Marcos to sign amended IRR for Magna Carta of the Poor next month —NAPC

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will sign an amended Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) for the Magna Carta of the Poor, a measure which mandates the government to ensure that the poor are granted ready access to government services, by next month, the National Anti Poverty Commission (NAPC) said Friday.

NAPC Lead Convenor Lope Santos III made the announcement as the agency marked its 25th anniversary.

“We have an existing IRR of Magna Carta of the Poor, but we received proposals for the improvement of the said IRR. Inaasahan namin na mapipirmahan ng ating Pangulo ngayong buwan ng Hunyo,” Santos said in a press conference.

“The IRR was amended concerning the participation and representation of basic sectors because the main comments on the first IRR was that it was drafted during the COVID-19 pandemic, and there were no face-to-face meetings. When in person meetings resumed, we saw there are some things to improve,” Santos added.

The law defines basic sectors as "disadvantaged sectors" of Philippine society, which include farmer-peasants, fisherfolk, workers in the formal sector, including migrant workers, workers in the informal sector, indigenous peoples, and cultural communities, among others. 

President Duterte signed the Magna Carta of the Poor law back in April 2019. 

Aside from an amended IRR, Santos said that the government is also expected to ink the Joint Memorandum Circular for its implementation in June.

The Magna Carta of the Poor provides for the following five fundamental rights of the poor:

• Right to adequate food
• Right to decent work
• Right to relevant and quality education
• Right to adequate housing
• Right to the highest attainable standard of health

Based on the fact sheet provided by the NAPC, the Magna Carta of the Poor wants to hit the following goals:

• Investments in anti-poverty programs to enable the poor to participate in the country's growth and development, and that this will be among the priorities of the State
   
• Full access to government services shall be provided to the poor by departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the government

• Interventions to address the genuine concerns of the poor will be strengthened, and long-term strategies and solutions for the empowerment of the poor will be institutionalized

• Enhancement and promotion of capabilities and competencies of the basic sectors, the non-government organizations (NGOs), the people's organizations (POs), and other development partners for the effective delivery and implementation of a wide-range of anti-poverty programs and basic services through government strategies and collaboration with development partners.

The Marcos administration is eyeing to reduce poverty rate in the country to 9% by 2028. —VAL, GMA Integrated News