MIRIAM PROPOSES ADOPTION OF BRAZIL'S BOLSA FAMILIA PROGRAM
Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, chair of the Senate Economic Affairs Committee, will file a bill providing conditional cash transfers (CCTs) to extremely poor families.Dubbed as the Lingap Sikap Act of 2009, the bill aims to offer grants to impoverished households under the condition of committing to send their children to school regularly and bring them to health care centers for vaccination and check-ups, among others.
“Investing in our children will break the cycle of intergenerational transmission of poverty. As current poverty is addressed by the CCTs, future poverty will be reduced by ensuring the education and health of Filipino children,” Santiago said.
Santiago’s bill is inspired by the CCT progam from Brazil called Bolsa Familia, the program from which Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) also based its current pro-poor Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps). DSWD Secretary Esperanza Cabral, who was part of the Philippine delegation to Brazil, said the government was very keen in expanding the 4Ps program in the country after their visit to the Latin American country.
“The passage of this bill will make the cash transfer program of the DSWD more permanent and long term,” said the senator.
Santiago said that the program will also strengthen and facilitate improvements in the government’s social welfare institutions, programs, and services.
The Bolsa Familia program in Brazil is considered the pioneer CCT program in Latin America. Its success triggered adoptions in several countries including Chile, Mexico, Indonesia, South Africa, Turkey, and Morocco. Aside from reducing poverty, it created a positive impact on the adult labor supply, reduced the malnutrition rate, and created an increase in total spending, food consumption, and education spending.
Labels: economic affairs, Miriam
posted by MDS @ 11:01 AM
2 Comments
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2 Comments:
Hello Senator Santiago,
First I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for being one of the best senator of Philippines in our lifetime especially with your compassion and commitment to Filipino people. As I traveled to Brazil several times, I observed the poor living condition as well as the rich. The disparity is quite a challenge considering Brazil is rich in natural resources, Brazilians is gearing toward technology, environment preservation, broaden business opportunities, promote tourism and improving educational aspect of the population. The new government infused financing program to help people with talent and skills to start a business ranging from micro investment to big business ventures. This approach gives Brazilian citizens to become self supporting and help reduce unemployment. So far it is creating a government market driven revenue thus far a win win situation for both. I believe the government of the Philippines should invest in its people to minimize the outgoing influx of Filipinos to other countries and get exploited by the outside world. I also observed that Filipinos globally are being treated as second class citizen and sometimes deprived of their loved ones and their human rights, in short we get the short end of the stick and it is a shame our government let it happen. Let us get started in reaching out and create a strategy to serve for the common good of our people in a global scale. Yours truly and I wish the best to all Filipinos around the world. I encourage and welcome any comments or questions you may have and I look forward to building opportunities for the people of the Philippines. Fely Guzman, Global Business Consultant.
As an economics student, this initiative from Senator Miriam is a very welcome development. This is a right step toward economic development. Thank you po!
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