Dole outs

Helping and serving the poorest of the poor among our countrymen is unquestionably a noble and highly laudable act. It is truly a great humanitarian gesture that embodies the Christian teaching of “love thy neighbor” especially during these difficult times. Recent government moves towards this direction should merit enthusiastic acceptance and commendation. But unfortunately they appear to be received with wariness and suspicion or even condemnation, as usual.

Such negative reactions cannot really be said to be entirely baseless or considered as the typical knee jerk response of anti-administration people who can’t see anything right in its moves. There are really some alarming and seriously harmful aspects in these government projects purportedly designed to alleviate the plight of our poor countrymen during these times of alleged food shortages and soaring consumer prices.

The first of this scheme is the “family access cards” handed out to the poorest of the poor throughout the country to enable them to buy rice at a price cheaper than its market value. This is made possible because the government subsidizes the difference between the actual selling price and the lower price allegedly amounting to hundreds of millions of pesos a month in tax payers’ money.

The second program is dubbed as “Ahon Pinoy” where our countrymen belonging to the same poorest class will be given direct financial assistance of P1,500 a month for the next five years to help them tide over and cope with the current economic crisis. To implement this program, the government will reportedly spend P5 billion a year of taxpayers’ money.

Both the access card and the “Ahon Pinoy” projects will be carried out by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) with the assistance of the local government units (LGUs).

Another government agency is also being tapped to implement another scheme this time to assist the transportation sector, particularly our lowly jeepney drivers in the face of soaring gasoline and oil prices. They will be given “gas coupons” entitling them to a certain percentage price discount in the gasoline they purchase.

These government moves are supposedly geared towards “uplifting the poor and protecting them from soaring prices”. But this is more apparent than real. Under the guise of a seemingly good design and laudable goals, there are so many unavoidable pitfalls in the manner of implementing the schemes that are very alarming and immediately noticeable.

With the enormous amount of taxpayers’ money involved, the opportunity for graft and corruption once more presents itself. People in the DSWD may be well meaning, but past transactions and unresolved exposes of wrongdoings in the government readily instill the fear of more anomalies being committed with impunity, especially under our existing bureaucratic system where it is extremely difficult if not impossible to insure a graft free and successful implementation.

Obviously the DSWD does not have a well knit network that can efficiently carry out these programs nationwide. It is likewise of common knowledge that in its operations politicians invariably dip their fingers. In fact in these schemes DSWD has to tap the assistance of the LGUs in determining the “family access” cardholders, and those entitled to the “ahon pinoy” direct cash assistance. And here lies the danger.

The sad reality in our country is that our elected public officials from the national down to the barangay level are engaged in non-stop politics. If they are going to have a hand or dip their fingers in these government programs, they will definitely use them to promote their political ambitions and protect their political interests. Hence there is no assurance at all that the poorest of the poor will reap the benefits of these government programs. The local officials will naturally discriminate against voters in the areas where they are weak or where they lost in the last elections.

More alarming is the “Ahon Pinoy” direct cash assistance scheme that entails expenditure of P5 billion a year. The five-year duration of the project obviously extends to and even goes beyond the 2010 elections. Indirectly, this program can be used to the advantage of the administration backed candidate. This is subtly engaging in “patronage politics” with the use of the taxpayers’ money.

But the more deleterious effect of these seemingly noble schemes is on the people themselves. While they are designed to help the poor, they ultimately have an adverse effect on the poorest of the poor.

“Ahon Pinoy” and family access cards are inherently nothing but “dole outs”. Dole outs have not really alleviated or solved our poverty problem. On the contrary, they have just brought many other evils to our country and people.

First of all I think that “dole outs” even belittle or strip our countrymen of their human dignity. I just could not help but associate such act of simply giving them food to eat to the act of giving food to pets in the household. This is quite debasing.

Dole outs also promote and enhance the harmful vice of indolence and laziness. Indeed since the time of Jose Rizal, Filipinos have already been criticized for being indolent. Up to now we have not gotten over this vice precisely because of dole outs being practiced by the government and the politicians.

Dole outs are one of the main obstacles to our country’s progress. They deprive people of the opportunity to acquire the virtue of hard work, to be industrious and diligent, and to strive for excellence. Thus poor people remain forever poor. Maybe this is really the secret of the staying power of our traditional politicians (trapos).

Note: Books containing compilation of my articles on Labor Law and Criminal Law (Vols. I and II) are now available. Call tel. 7249445.

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