Senatorial bet wants cash doles widened

Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—A candidate of the Team PNoy coalition wants the Aquino administration’s P40 billion-a-year conditional cash transfer system for the country’s poorest of the poor to include micro-financing for small scale businesses at the grassroots level.

Senatorial candidate Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara said he has drafted a conditional cash transfer bill that retains much of the current features of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program but also includes micro-finance initiatives “to further boost the fund and enhance its effectiveness.”

“What is envisioned under the draft CCT law is strong [Department of Social Welfare and Development-Local Government Unit] partnership so the needs of the impoverished grassroots could be truly and fully addressed,” Angara said.

Angara said that institution and capability building at the LGU level is important and the education and training of LGU leaders would be complementary to the institutionalization of the CCT.

“The CCT education-focused programs blend seamlessly with the educational agenda of Angara, who authored the Free Kindergarten Law and has filed several bills that seek to modernize Philippine education,” Angara said.