De Lima pushes Magna Cart of the Poor bill in Senate

Detained Sen. Leila de Lima wants to guarantee the poor’s fundamental rights by giving them access to government services and encouraging the private sector to invest in propoor programs.

Senate Bill No. 2010, or the Magna Carta of the Poor, includes the right to adequate food, decent work, quality education, housing, and mental and physical health.

‘At the gutter’

“Recognizing that food, work, education, shelter and health are the foremost fundamental rights that lie at the very core of human rights and human dignity, this law aims to at least assuage the ills that hamper the rise of the members of the Philippine society who have been left helpless at the gutter for the longest time,” De Lima said.

De Lima’s proposal would compel the government to provide the requirements, conditions and opportunities for the poor to enjoy these fundamental rights.

It would also require the government to prioritize investments in antipoverty programs that would enable the poor to fully participate in the country’s growth and development.

The Magna Carta of the Poor would also mandate the government to provide the poor access to food, health, education, housing and other essential amenities of life.

Poverty alleviation

It would also enlist the participation of the private sector as the government’s development partners in financing and implementing poverty alleviation programs and projects.

“These fundamental rights will be prioritized in the name of this law, in harmony with the other priorities of the state, to the end that putting premium on poverty alleviation will be for the advancement of the Filipino as a whole,” De Lima said.

The detained senator is the chair of the Senate committee on social justice, welfare and rural development.

The measure would be implemented through “progressive realization,” which meant that the program would be paced according to the availability of funds while adjusting to the exigencies of the poor.

The measure would task the National Economic Development Authority to design and establish a single system of classifying the targeted beneficiaries of the government’s antipoverty programs.