Doleouts just won’t work
The conditional cash transfer (CCT) program of Noynoy is one of the most expensive items in the yearly government budget and the most frequently criticized due to doubts that it is being properly monitored, thus turning it into what many fear it is turning out to be just as what was intended by Noynoy and his Liberal Party — which is mere political doleouts that would be used to bribe the poor to give them the vote come election day.
The allocation for the program which the administration calls the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4P) totals P23 billion this year and by next year the allotment for it will almost double to P40 billion to target 3.5 million families which were supposedly identified by the administration of Noynoy as extremely poor.
Not so poor, after all, as the Commission on Audit (CoA) review of the program showed many of the so-called beneficiaries of the program are not exactly among the marginalized.
The CoA interviewed sample beneficiaries throughout the country and the results were no surprise at all, especially to critics.
A handful of the beneficiaries was obviously delegated by some allied political figures in the areas, some have legitimate jobs and even one is a proprietor owning an apartment space.
What it shows is that the so-called survey method being used to identify the poorest of the poor, as well as monitor their use of the funds, doesn’t work. Worse, the management of the billions in funds is highly questionable.
Billions, incidentally, are also spent by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for its so-called workers and personnel in monitoring the program, which is obviously money wasted — considering that the CoA itself pointed to the poor monitoring as well as poor management of the funds, along with other irregularities found.
Some six percent of those interviewed by the CoA should have not been included in the program since they have their own means of livelihood. That percentage of ineligibility is equivalent to about 250,000 households getting unnecessary doleouts from Noynoy.
There were several other anomalies in the flagship poverty alleviation program of Noynoy that took almost 300 pages for CoA to detail. Shown also was the tendency of beneficiaries to use the CCT money to bet in gambling operations.
Another glaring anomaly was the failure of the DSWD which implements the program to liquidate more than P6 billion of the P20-billion budget last year. The budget for the program has been increasing progressively from P20 billion in 2011, P23 billion this year and P40 billion next year, which, to point out, in election year.
The unliquidated portion is substantial enough since it comprises about 25 percent of the total budget for the program during the period reviewed, which not only placed doubts on the credibility of the process in providing the cash transfer but also the effectivity of the program itself.
Even surveys reflect the nil effect of the program in reducing hunger much less poverty among Filipinos as most believe that they remain poor before and after the assumption of Noynoy as president and the implementation of the CCT program.
The results of the CoA review should be used as basis for a comprehensive review of the 4Ps program since scarce government funds are being used for it and it seems that the program is being poorly monitored.
Monitoring is an essential component for the success of the program since the provision of cash transfers is tied to certain conditions which are believed to improve the economic conditions of a family.
Otherwise, the program turns into a pure doleout for political patronage, which is what is happening today.
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