President Duterte has finally signed the Magna Carta of the Poor in a bid to institutionalize long-term strategies in poverty reduction.
The President signed Republic Act 11291 on April 12, a few days before he inked the bill institutionalizing the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), the government’s key measures to effectively combat poverty in the country.
The passage of the Magna Carta of the Poor seeks to uplift the quality of standard of living and quality of life of the marginalized and provide them opportunities for growth development through the help of both the government and the private sector.
“Poor” is defined in the bill as families or individuals whose income fall below the poverty threshold as defined by the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) and/or cannot afford in a sustained manner to provide their minimum basic needs of food, health, education, housing or other essential amenities of life.
For the poor to fully enjoy their rights, the government is mandated to put in place a system or progressive realization or implementation.
These rights include the Right to Adequate Food; Right to Decent Work; Right to Free, Relevant and Quality Education; Right to Adequate Housing; and Right to the Highest Attainable Standard of Mental and Physical Health.
The President and Congress also have the prerogative to allocate funds to all poverty alleviation programs as they may deem necessary through the General Appropriations Act.
Moreover, government agencies are supposed to come up within 100 days from the issuance of the implementing rules and regulations of the law, a National Poverty Reduction Plan (NPRP), in setting the thresholds that should be achieved by the government for each of the basic rights of the poor.
The National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC), with technical assistance from the Neda shall be responsible in harmonizing the regional and local development plans for the crafting of the NPRP.
The Department of Budget and Management will be reviewing the NPRP for the budget inclusion for implementing agencies.
Meanwhile, the private sector is also highly encouraged to contribute in the financing and implementation of poverty alleviation programs and projects.
Development partners who also accept cash donations, aids or grants, in cash or in kind, shall also be accredited by government agencies.
Any donation, contribution and grant which may be made to the programs implemented under the NPRP shall also be exempt from the donor’s tax, while the implementers of the socialized housing resettlement program shall enjoy the incentives stated in the Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992.
NAPC, in coordination with the government departments and agencies, with the participation of local government units and the basic sectors, will promulgate rules and regulations to carry out the provisions.
The Act shall take effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.