Congress urged: Probe COA report on cash doleouts

LUCENA CITY—A left-wing organization of farmers demanded an investigation of a Commission on Audit (COA) report that found irregularities in the handout of cash doles to the poor, including lists of recipients that are far from being poor.

The Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) in a statement said the Senate President and Speaker “are obliged to put this CCT program under thorough review.” CCT stands for conditional cash transfer, a program that now detained former President Arroyo started and which her successor, President Aquino, continued.

The CCT program, the statement quoted Pamalakaya head Fernando Hicap as saying, promotes not just “mendicancy … but corruption and political patronage.”

CCT, also known as Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, offers monthly doles of P500 for health and P300 for education of every child below 14 years old of the poorest of the poor. Beneficiaries may receive up to P1,400 per month.

COA, in a report in 2010, said some beneficiaries, however, included people who owned land, cars, apartments and businesses.

“The CCT is a general failure. The government cannot eradicate poverty by simply giving cash the way TV variety shows do to poor contestants,” said Pamalakaya.

Government, it said, should instead “pursue the fundamentals of eradicating poverty like free land distribution, decent paying jobs and job security.”