About 4.3 million families covered by the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) will receive P106 billion in financial grants under the 2021 P4.5-trillion national budget.
Deputy Speaker Mikee Romero of 1-Pacman said the aid to the “poorest of the poor” comprises the bulk of the proposed P169.3-billion 2021 budget for the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), which implements 4Ps.
Romero, one of the authors of the law institutionalizing 4Ps, or conditional cash transfers, said the program grants a monthly subsidy of up to P1,500 to qualified families, provided they comply with certain conditions, including keeping children in school and attending family development sessions.
He added that the program funding for 2021 represents an increase of P5 billion over this year’s P101 billion.
He said the total appropriation for 4Ps for next year actually amounts to P113.8 billion, including P7.8 billion for administrative costs and other expenses.
He said P4.7 billion of the P7.8 billion will go to salaries, P1.6 billion to “cost of service,” P289 million to “bank service fees,” P432 million to “monitoring and evaluation/spot checks,” P393 million to administrative expenses, P111 million to training, and P27 million to information, education and printing of manuals and booklets.
Romero also said these miscellaneous expenses form part of the annual appropriation for 4Ps.
Clarify
The lawmaker, however, called on the DSWD to clarify certain yearly allocations, like those for “cost of service” and “bank service fees,” whether these are separate expense items, or are one and the same totaling a combined P2 billion.
He also urged state-owned Land Bank of the Philippines, the principal conduit of 4Ps cash grants, and other participating banks to reduce their service fees.
“A 50-percent reduction will mean an additional P1 billion that could go to beneficiaries, or more poor families benefiting from the program,” he said.
Romero said the P169.3-billion DSWD budget for next year also includes P41 billion for social protection programs like medical, transportation and burial assistance and P4.3 billion for disaster response such as the provision of relief goods.
Pre-pandemic
Meanwhile, public budget and good governance think tank Institute for Leadership, Empowerment and Democracy (iLEAD) on Monday said the proposed 2021 P4.5-trillion national budget is still focused on pre-pandemic priorities.
The iLEAD said the budget allocation for pre-Covid-19 is contrary to the claim that the 2021 appropriations would be responsive to Filipinos’ needs following the negative impact of the pandemic on the country’s economy.
The iLEAD said the proposed budget, which the national government claimed to carry the theme “Reset, Rebound and Recover,” is still heavily invested on the infrastructure of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Department of Transportation (DOTr).
“This is despite the significant losses in nearly all economic sectors in the Philippines, including a 16.5- percent GDP drop in the second quarter of 2020. Massive layoffs, business closures, and the increasing number of hungry families raise alarms on Filipinos’ capacity to survive the pandemic. According to a study, as many as 5.5 million families can fall into poverty if they experience a 10- percent decrease in their respective incomes,” the group added.
DPWH’s proposed 2021 budget is at P666.5 billion, a 14-percent budget increase from 2020’s P580.9 billion. Meanwhile, DOTr’s proposed budget is at P128.8 billion, which is a 55-percent spike from the P83.1-billion budget of 2020. These increases came despite the historical underperformance and underspending of both agencies.
However, the group said the welfare programs saw no significant additions.
“The 2021 budget also did not reflect funding for the social amelioration program. Funding for MSMEs [micro, small and medium enterprises] has also been cut. These despite the fact the country has experienced a record high 45.5 percent joblessness rate as of July 2020,” it added.
In the face of historic job losses, iLEAD Executive Secretary Zy-za Suzara said the government has a responsibility to provide massive stimulus and socioeconomic assistance.
“The government has to let go of pre-Covid spending priorities and instead become more responsive to the plight of Filipinos, particularly the poor,” he added.
While the national government is packaging the “Build, Build, Build” program as a way of providing employment to displaced workers, this approach is shortsighted, said Suzara.
“The broad job creation program should go beyond the narrow focus on infrastructure,” she said, pointing out that only a fraction of those who lost jobs are actually involved in construction.
Meanwhile, the budget of the Department of Health decreased by 27.6 percent from this year’s level of P181 billion—from the 2020 General Appropriations Act (GAA) and Bayanihan 1 and 2 allocations—to P131 billion, despite medical experts saying that the earliest period for the release of the Covid-19 vaccine would be in late 2021.
While the Department of Education has the highest funding allocation among government agencies, iLEAD also said that the increase in the agency’s budget is largely salary-driven, with little improvement in curriculum programs and learning tools.
The 2021 National Expenditure Program also saw an increase in the funding for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police. From the P187.33- billion budget in the 2020 GAA, the 2021 NEP shows that the PNP now has P190.5 billion. This funding includes a P1.08-billion budget for the “End of Local Communist Armed Conflict” project. Meanwhile, the 2021 NEP reflects P203.3 billion funding for the AFP, from the P186 billion budget from the 2020 GAA.
“The national government should not bull through their pre-pandemic strategy. The 2021 budget should be calibrated to the new normal,” said Suzara.
“While other countries are increasing their investments in social protection and providing cash transfers to the poor, the Philippine government wants to continue pouring in money to infrastructure and armed personnel even as Filipinos’ lives and livelihoods are at risk,” he said.
Image credits: AP/Aaron Favila
2 comments
Im a single mom for 11 yrs, i have 2 children, but until now im not a member of 4ps.how can i apply pls. Help me
I’m a poor and I have 4 children but until now I’m not a member of 4ps. how can I apply please help me