Beneficiary profiling lowered budget spending – DOLE, DSWD

DOLE Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma (File picture from Bibo Nueva España/Senate PRIB)

MANILA, Philippines — Two departments of the executive branch of government have pointed to comprehensive profiling of beneficiaries as the reason for the low spending of their budgets in welfare programs.

At a meeting at the Palace,  the secretaries from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) told President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos that a thorough assessment process was the reason.

“Naipaliwanag namin, bukod doon sa pagpapakita ng aming catch-up plans, na kinakailangan namin na magkaroon ng masusing profiling ng mga intended na beneficiaries upang matiyak na iyong mga pondo na nakalaan sa programa ay mapupunta at maipagkakaloob doon po sa ating mga kababayan na eligible under the program,” DOLE Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said during a briefing in Malacañang after the meeting.

(Aside from showing our catch-up plans, we need to have a thorough profiling of the intended beneficiaries to make sure that the funds allotted for the program will go to and will be given to our countrymen who are eligible under the program.)

An example of such initiatives was the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers, a project meant to give emergency work to displaced, underemployed, and seasonal workers.

DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian (File picture from Bibo Nueva España / Senate PRIB).

DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian provided similar reasons.

He cited as an example the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), which comprised half of his department’s budget.

“Kaya medyo mayroon lang tayong delay sa disbursing this year, dahil kung matatandaan natin, ang basis ng 4Ps ay iyong Listahanan and the last Listahanan – Listahanan III – was conducted ng period of 2019 and 2020,” he explained.

“These were the COVID years ng lockdown,” he recalled.

Gatchalian reported almost 700,000 families had asked DSWD to be included in 4Ps again after the pandemic.

This was on top of another 700,000 that had yet to be surveyed during the lockdowns.

“Kung matatandaan natin, ang 4Ps is 4.4 million households ang kasama diyan. So imagine ninyo, 1.4 ang nagkaroon ng aberya,” he said.

(If we remember, 4.4 million households are included in the 4Ps. So please imagine there was a hitch in the 1.4 million.)

“Eh ayaw namang madaliin ng departamento na bigla na lang natin magde-delist,” he gave the rationale.

(The department does not want to delist suddenly.)

“Kaya nga ang naging desisyon ng departamento ay mag-reassess,” he concluded.

(That is why the department decides to reassess.)

Back on Laguesma, he clarified DOLE has been able to speed up its record in the timely use of its budget.

“Iyong napatala na utilization rate namin ay first quarter lamang. Itong second quarter po, nakahabol na po kami,” he noted.

(The recorded utilization rate is only for the first quarter. This second quarter, we were able to catch up.)

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APL/abc