An oversight committee will review the Aquino administration’s P39-billion flagship poverty alleviation program in preparation for the upcoming deliberation on the 2013 proposed national budget, according to Senate finance committee chairman Franklin Drilon.
Drilon said he and House committee on appropriations chairman Joseph Emilio Abaya have scheduled a briefing from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for Thursday, 2 o’clock in the afternoon, to discuss the developments in the implementation of the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program or the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).
Both Drilon and Abaya chair the joint congressional oversight committee on public expenditures which is created to review and evaluate expenditure programs of all government agencies and assess effectiveness and impact of government activities, programs and projects.
“It is pertinent that we conduct a review of the effectiveness and efficiency of the conditional cash transfer program that is primarily conceptualized to uplift the lives of the poorest Filipino families,” said Drilon.
Drilon noted that the CCT was allocated P39 billion this year from P21 billion in 2011 to provide assistance to three million household beneficiaries identified trough the National Household Targeting System.
It was also Drilon who led in having the CCT budget last year passed, without any cuts, despite the opposition aired by his colleagues.
“We would like to hear from Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman if her agency has successfully plugged in some of the loopholes that we and some concerned sectors have identified,” added Drilon.
In particular, Drilon will look into issues confronting the integrity of the program including the cleaning up of the list of beneficiaries to ensure that those in the list are only the poorest families and the assurance that it will not be used by politicians in the 2013 elections.
Also, Drilon said he will find out from the DSWD and the Department of Budget and Management how much funding the government will continue to provide in the coming years to ensure the program’s successful implementation.