Gov’t social service program gets 13.2% budget hike

MANILA, Philippines - The government increased by 13.2 percent this year’s budget on social services in line with President Aquino’s directive to reduce poverty.

 Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said of the P2.6-trillion budget, P952.7 billion was allocated for the government’s social services program.

The amount comprises 36.6 percent of the entire budget.

“The allocation toward the administration’s poverty reduction programs reinforces President Aquino’s key message for the 2015 fiscal year: No one, especially the poor and the vulnerable, should be left behind,” he said.

The amount is expected to help the government achieve its Millennium Development Goal of reducing poverty to 16 percent by 2016.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) got the highest allocation with P108.2 billion, or 29.8 percent higher than last year’s budget.

The DSWD’s primary program in helping the poor is the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), also known as the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program, which now has four million beneficiaries.

“With a budget of P62.3 billion, the program provides conditional cash grants to poor households to help reduce poverty for 4.3 million families,” the Department of Budget and Management said in a statement.

The DSWD also has other programs for social protection. These are the KALAHI-CIDSS National Community-Driven Development Project, which supports 6,735 community projects that cater to 1.5 million poor households; the sustainable livelihood program, which covers families who graduate from the CCT program; the social pensions for indigent senior citizens, which has 939,609 beneficiaries; the supplemental feeding program, which provides hot meals to school children, and the national household targeting system, which identifies and classifies poor households.

“The budget for social protection is part of the administration’s investment in the people, who are ultimately the country’s most invaluable resource,” Abad said.

“From creating more jobs to ensuring the well-being of the poorest and most vulnerable, the national government is committed to improve the quality of life of our citizens,” he added.