CCT gets $100M boost from World Bank

MANILA, Philippines- The government's conditional cash transfer program will receive a $100-million boost from multilateral lender World Bank, increasing the additional beneficiaries by 200,000 households.

“International experience shows that CCT contributes toward reducing inequality. Combined with high and sustained economic growth, CCT as a form of social safety net provides an equitable foundation for inclusive growth - growth that works for the poor,” World Bank Country Director Motoo Konishi said on Wednesday.

The government's CCT program, dubbed as Pantawid Pamilya, is under the Social Welfare Development Reform Project of the Department of Social Welfare and Development. The program provides cash grants to families who send their children between the ages 0-14 in school and have them checked in health centers regularly. Pregnant mothers under the program are also required to have regular check-ups with health professionals.

Three million Filipino families are currently enrolled in the program which is being implemented in over 30 countries, the World Bank said.

“Pantawid Pamilya helps reduce the vulnerability of households to sudden economic difficulties due to factors like natural calamities. Ultimately, it will help prevent the transmission of poverty from one generation to the next by helping today’s children become more productive members of society,” DSWD Secretary Corazon Soliman said.

The World Bank said the program, which covers 7.5 million children nationwide, is achieving its objective of helping poor households in increasing their investment in the health and education of their children, based on a survey it conducted.

"Seventy-six percent of children in Pantawid Pamilya households are enrolled in day care as against 65 percent in non-Pantawid households. Almost all (98 percent) of Pantawid Pamilya children are enrolled in elementary as against 91 percent among non-beneficiaries," the World Bank said.

"The survey also revealed that the beneficiary children attend their classes regularly (96 percent) compared to non-beneficiary children (91 percent)."

It added that children who benefit under the program are also using more health services compared to non-beneficiary households: 33 percent have their weight monitored (as against 17 percent among non-beneficiaries), 63 percent take deworming pills (against 55 percent among non-beneficiaries) and 81 percent take Vitamin A (as against 75 percent among non-beneficiaries).

"Compared to non-beneficiary households, the survey also found that Pantawid Pamilya households spend 38 percent more on education, while spending 34 percent more on medicine and medical services," the Washington-based lender added.

“Pantawid Pamilya is clearly changing the spending patterns of poor households, with beneficiary households spending more on health and education of their children and pregnant mothers than poor households who had not received the program,” Nazmul Chaudhury, World Bank country sector coordinator for human development said.