Anomalies persist in gov’ts anti-poverty program

MANILA, Philippines – Anomalies in the government’s conditional cash transfer (CCT) program persist despite assurances last week from Malacañang and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) that problems noted by the Commission on Audit from 2007 to 2010 have all been addressed.
 
In the Value for Money portion of its 2011 audit report on the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, COA said the DSWD-ARMM again failed to weed out ineligible families who continue to receive monthly cash aid from the government despite non-compliance with requirements.
 
“Some beneficiaries  of the program are not extremely poor and did not meet the criteria for eligibility in the 4P’s, which affects and/or hinders the achievement of  the agency’s  goal to promote the accumulation of human capital among young children and break the intergeneration cycle of poverty among poor households,” auditors said.
 
The report submitted by an audit team led by State Auditor IV Danny T. Calib however did not provide the specific number of questioned beneficiaries nor the sum of CCT funds involved.
 
For this year, the CCT or the Pantawid Pampamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) was allocated P39.44 billion – a 53.74-percent increase from the previous year’s allotment of P21.194 billion.
 
DSWD Secretary Corazon Soliman said the agency has already cleaned up its lists of beneficiary families who had double or triple entries, were earning steady income that put them above the poverty threshold, or were engaged in illegal activities.
 
But COA said the problem remains prevalent.
 
“On numerous instances, complaints were aired by some concerned individuals that the 4Ps Program has among its beneficiaries who are not qualified to receive the benefits provided by the program. These non-eligible beneficiaries allegedly are rich people and  are gainfully employed even in the government,” the audit report noted.
 
COA called for a speedy reevaluation of beneficiaries in the list to remove those who are non-eligible and to extend the cash assistance to those families who deserve inclusion in the program. – Rappler.com