Cash transfer reason for less hunger, says Albay governor

LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines—Despite the spike in food and fuel prices,  the government’s sustained conditional cash transfer (CCT) has freed  nearly a million poor families across the country from hunger during the first year of the Aquino administration, Albay Gov. Joey Salceda said.

Salceda, an economist, said he believed this was the reason why, as shown by a recent Social Weather Station (SWS) survey,  the overall hunger incidence in the country has dropped by 6 percent, from 3.9 million families in the second half of 2010 to 3 million families in the second quarter of this year, freeing 977,000 families from hunger.

He attributed the decline in hunger incidence to the expansion of the CCT program, popularly known as the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps.

The program, managed by the Department of Social Welfare and Development, grants P1,400 each month to poor families so they could avail themselves of health, nutrition and education services from government as long as their children attend school, have regular health check-ups and vaccinations.

Salceda, who also chairs the Regional Development Council in Bicol, noted that government records have shown that from 1.3 million poor families enrolled in the 4Ps program in June 2010, 2 million were enrolled in May and 2.3 million in June this year.

“The funding for 4Ps has proven to be an inspired move while prompting positive and significant consequences in the lives of ordinary families, particularly food-poor rural families,” he said in a statement Saturday.

As the country’s hunger incidence eased, Salceda proposed that the current 4Ps’ coverage be expanded to cover the rest of the 4.77 million poor households across the country.

He also proposed increasing the budget for the CCT  from P21 billion in 2011 to P34 billion in 2012.