Robredo gets add’l P20-M budget for her Angat Buhay program

FILE: Vice President Leni Robredo, in an interview with Senate reporters, welcomed the additional PHP20 million describing it as a “big help” to her office which relies heavily on the private sector. (Photo: VP Leni Robredo/Facebook)

MANILA — The Senate on Monday provided the Office of the Vice President (OVP) with an additional PHP20 million for its anti-poverty program, Angat Buhay in its PHP 443 million budget for 2018.

During the budget deliberations, senators agreed that the additional PHP20 million would complement the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

Vice President Leni Robredo, in an interview with Senate reporters, welcomed the additional PHP20 million describing it as a “big help” to her office which relies heavily on the private sector.

She said the Angat Buhay program has six pillars — security, nutrition, housing, women empowerment, universal healthcare, and education.

“Ang gusto sabihin ng PHP20 million pwede na kami mag-spend para dun. Ngayon kasi nakaka-spend kami para sa operations. Pero yung program itself umaasa kami sa private partnership (The additional PHP20 million means that we can spend for these pillars. Currently, we spend for operations only. But for the program itself we rely on private partnerships),” Robredo said.

“Ngayon na meron siyang PHP20 million, kahit siya konti ang laking bagay na for us kasi hindi na kami totally dependent sa private sector (Now that we have PHP20 million, it’s a big help for us because we’re no longer totally dependent on the private sector),” she added.

Robredo said Angat Buhay program currently serves around 140-150 of the poorest communities in the Philippines and will be expanding soon.