'Government should spend on social protection'

CEBU, Philippines - Nacionalista Party spokesman and senatorial candidate Gilbert Remulla said the government should start spending on social protection measures particularly on health and job creation to allow economic growth to trickle down to the majority of poor farmers, workers and fisherfolk.

He said that although the country may have remained resilient amid the global financial crisis, the current El Niño phenomenon and other threats of the ill effects brought about by global climate change will eventually worsen the poverty situation.

Remulla, in a press statement sent to The FREEMAN, said that the recent admission of economic experts of the Arroyo administration that the “poor got poorer” in the last nine years should prompt the government to rethink its poverty alleviation policies.

“The lingering poverty and hunger among majority of the population is a result of long years of neglect of the agriculture sector. Threats of extreme weather conditions should be addressed to avert the increase in the number of poor families particularly farmers and fisherfolk,” he said.

He also said that these social protection measures will help the country achieve its commitments to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of the United Nations that seek to halve global poverty incidence by 2015.

Remulla said that a study entitled, “Achieving Millennium Development Goals in an Era of Global Uncertainty”, showed that the Philippines failed in more than 40 percent of the 21 development indicators particularly in addressing poverty, hunger, child mortality and maternal health.

Remulla said the study pointed at the need to address critical issues on social sector investments and these include providing huge chunks of budget to health, education, water sanitation and basic services to the poor.

He added that although the government provides for free elementary and high school education, the country has also been remiss in achieving the second goal of the MDG which is achieving access to universal primary education. — Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon/MEEV   (FREEMAN NEWS)