While they were generally supportive of the P5 billion conditional cash transfer project of the Department of Social Works and Development (DSWD), congressmen today tasked Secretary Esperanza Cabral to make sure that the "real poor" will benefit from it.

 "Please make sure that the 'rice scam' will not happen in your agency," Nueva Vizcaya Rep. Carlos Padilla told Cabral. He was referring to the latest controversy on the irregularities uncovered by the Commission on Audit on the way municipal officials of the Department of Agriculture spent in 2007 a total of  P218.7 million on farm inputs.

Also known as Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino, the conditional cash transfer program is DSWD's poverty reduction strategy that provides money to extremely poor households to allow the members of the families to meet human development goals by improving health, nutrition, and education.

It's budget accounts for almost half of DSWD's total budget of P10.5 billion in 2009. It aims to benefit 321,000 households in 2009. For the health package, a household is entitled to P6, 000 a year or P500 a month. The education package grants P3, 000 for ten months or P300 monthly per child.

"This will greatly benefit a family that is very very poor. I believe in the program. My only concern here is that there should be a clear set of beneficiaries," Cagayan De Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez said.

 Former Senate President Franklin Drilon earlier warned that the DSWD's P5 billion conditional cash transfer program is one of the lump sum  appropriations in the 2009 National Expenditure Program that may turn out to be the President's pork barrel because its release depends on the "absolute discretion" of the President or the department heads.

 DSWD chief 'fully accountable'

In response, Cabral assured the congressmen that the department will choose the rightful beneficiaries and that she will be "fully accountable for the funds" alloted to the conditional cash transfer program.

 "The bulk of the beneficiaries will come from the top 10 poorest provinces," Cabral said. Accordingly, the department will use the latest Family Income and Expenditure Survey to identify the poorest municipalities out of the poorest provinces.

 If an entire region doesn't have a province in the Top 20 poorest provinces, the residents its poorest province will also become beneficiaires.

National targeting system

DSWD is also alloted P1 billion for the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction, which aims to generate a database of poor households that can be used for social protection programs at the national and local level.

However, Cabral is asking for the reprogramming of the P750 million capital outlay alloted for the targeting system. The other P250 million was alloted for the MOOE.
 "The 750 million is represented there. The targeting system does not actually require P750 million for capital outlay," Cabral said. She wanted more budget for the MOOE.

Urban poor

Congressmen from urbanized cities also appealed to Cabral to consider their constituents in the conditional cash transfer program.

 "Per record, we are not among the poorerest provinces. But I can assure you that many Filipinos in Batangas are as poor as those in the poorest provinces," Rep. Hermilando Mandanas told Cabral.
 
"In cities like Cagayan De Oro, 30 percent of the population is urban poor, which are really very poor. They cannot even eat if their parents don't have work," added Rodriguez.