Poverty rise spurs Palace to go all out on CCT program

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – With the recent Social Weather Station (SWS) survey showing that self-rated poverty has increased to 55 percent in December, Malacañang on Monday said it would continue to push for its conditional cash transfer (CCT) program.

“The government will continue with its conditional cash transfer program. CCT is designed to keep children in school and keep them healthy. The program contributes to poverty reduction by ensuring that the poor children of today have a fighting chance to benefit from inclusive growth,” presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said in a text message to INQUIRER.net.

However, he also pointed out that the SWS survey “deals with self-rated poverty” and “changes from quarter to quarter.”

“On the part of government, we are determined to push through with our poverty alleviation programs,” Lacierda said.

The Palace official boasted that the CCT “has been met with approval by multilateral agencies like the World Bank.”

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