'RP unlikely to cut extreme poverty by half by 2015'

MANILA, Philippines - The head of the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) yesterday said the government is unlikely to be able to reduce extreme poverty incidence by half by 2015 although the poverty incidence is not likely to rise.

NAPC Secretary Jose Eliseo Rocamora assured the public that the government will implement programs that will reduce poverty incidence in the country such as the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

“I don’t want to say that we will achieve it (poverty reduction target)... but I can assure you it will not increase,” Rocamora told reporters on the sidelines of the celebration of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty in Manila’s Rizal Park yesterday.

“It’s hard to achieve the poverty reduction target in the next five years,” he said.

Rocamora defended the huge budget of the DSWD for the conditional cash transfer program, saying the first step in eradicating poverty is to raise the living conditions of the poor by giving them access to education.

The program provides cash subsidies of varying amounts to the most impoverished families, as identified by the DSWD, in exchange for certain acts such as sending children to school and getting maternal health care.

“We cannot effectively implement anti-poverty programs if we will not give dignity to the poor... We always think the poor are lazy. But this impression is wrong,” Rocamora said. 

He said the current poverty incidence rate in the country is at 33 percent.

Last Saturday, the House of Representatives approved on second reading the P21-billion budget for the CCT fund.