DSWD to distribute CCT grants ahead of election campaign

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will distribute cash grants to beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilya Pilipino Program (4Ps) ahead of the May 2013 polls to prevent politicians from using the program for their own agenda, officials said yesterday.

“It is really our plan to disburse the grants before the onset of election ban on disbursement of public funds,” Rodora Babaran, national program manager of 4Ps, told The STAR yesterday.

Babaran said they will give grants to a total of 3.8 million households.

“We are still processing the payroll and cannot give the amount,” she said.

Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman assured the public that the government’s conditional cash transfer (CCT) program will not be used for political purposes.

Soliman said only the department can distribute grants to 4Ps beneficiaries.

“Nobody can delist the beneficiaries from the program except for failure to follow conditions of sending their children to school and to health centers for immunization and preventive check-up,” she said.

The DSWD secretary urged 4Ps beneficiaries not to believe reports that they will be delisted if they do not support a particular candidate.

“Only the DSWD national and regional offices can delist a beneficiary, not the mayor or vice mayor,” she stressed.

Meanwhile, President Aquino was urged yesterday to order the advance payment of CCT funds to millions of beneficiaries to avoid accusations the money is being used for election purposes.

House Minority Leader Danilo Suarez said the funds for February, March, April, and May should be released before the national election campaign starts middle of next month.

“There should be no distribution during the campaign period. We should try to avoid any malicious intent for a good program. It should not be used for political and election purposes,” he said.

The DSWD is administering the CCT program, for which there is about P45 billion in the P2-trillion 2013 budget.

The program gives monthly cash assistance of up to P1,000 to “poorest of the poor households,” provided parents send their children to school and attend family development sessions.

If the money is paid in advance before the election campaign, Suarez asked the DSWD to ensure that it goes to the intended beneficiaries.

He said an audit of CCT funds in previous years showed that a large part of it went to usurers, from whom beneficiaries borrowed funds at high interest. – Helen Flores, Jess Diaz