Local polls told to stop claiming credit for gov’t cash doles

Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – Interior Secretary Jesse M. Robredo has banned the display of the names and photos of governors and mayors on the posters and streamers of the government’s conditional cash transfer program, the Department of the Interior and Local Government said Saturday.

In a statement, Robredo said he issued a directive to the heads of provincial, city and municipal governments prohibiting them from putting their names and pictures on promotional materials for the government’s “Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program,” or 4Ps.

He said the order was recommended by the National Advisory Committee on the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino program, composed of different line agencies, led by the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

The advisory committee said it had observed that photos and names of some local officials were prominently displayed on the announcement streamers and posters of 4Ps, the centerpiece of the national government’s poverty reduction program.

“In the spirit of good governance, transparency and accountability in the implementation of the poverty reduction programs of the national government, the display of photos/ pictures and names of government officials in posters/streamers in the announcements of 4Ps-related activities is hereby prohibited,” Robredo said.

The 4Ps aim to alleviate the quality of life of impoverished Filipinos by giving cash grants of up to P1,400 to indigent families with children aged 14 years and below.

In return, beneficiaries are required to send their children to school, and the mothers must go for regular prenatal or postnatal care.

Earlier, the DILG, DSWD and the Department of Health agreed to push for the convergence of programs and projects for poor LGUs identified by the National Household Targeting System, such as the 4Ps, the health department’s Kalusugang Pangkalahatan Community Health Mobilization Program and the DILG’s Water for the Waterless LGU program.

Robredo said the convergence strategy was aimed at speeding up the implementation of poverty reduction programs and rationalizing funds.

“We, however, acknowledge the support and cooperation of our local governments in the implementation of these pro-poor programs to the identified beneficiaries of the NHTS,” he said.

In 2010, the DILG issued a similar directive banning the use of names and images of officials in billboards and signs of government programs and projects, as well as on fire trucks, ambulances and police cars.