Marcos hopes to eventually ‘dial down’ cash aid for indigents

From this amount, the Department of Social Welfare and Development will be provided with PHP165.40 billion for its several social assistance programs. (File Photo: Department of Social Welfare and Development/Facebook)

MANILA – President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Thursday said he was hoping to “dial down” the national government’s cash transfer programs for poor Filipinos once they can stand on their own feet.

During the question-and-answer segment of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit in Bangkok, Thailand, Marcos said admitted that the Philippine government’s current solution to the rising prices of basic commodities and fuel costs is the distribution of financial subsidies to vulnerable sectors.

“This is not something that we prefer to do. I don’t think that anyone is particularly enamored with direct cash transfer payments. But it is the only way that we can mitigate the situation that our people have,” Marcos said.

Marcos, however, expressed optimism that the government could slowly do away with doling out cash aid once it succeeds in significantly bringing down the country’s poverty rate.

He said his administration is prioritizing efforts to boost initiatives to transform the economy and create more jobs for Filipinos.

“…That is something that we are hoping with the creation of jobs and with the growth of the economy to slowly begin to dial down. And it is with the pandemic beginning to ease at least in our case, then there are — there’s a great deal of hope that that emergency situation will slowly resolve itself into some kind of normalcy,” he added.

The country’s economic managers earlier said they are confident that they can bring the poverty rate down to 9 percent by the end of their tenure in 2028.

Last month, Marcos said his administration is committed to giving continuous assistance to vulnerable sectors severely affected by surging consumer prices.

Marcos, who heads the Department of Agriculture (DA), also vowed to prioritize efforts to increase food production and lower the prices of food products.

Under the Marcos administration, the Department of Budget and Management has allocated around PHP206.50 billion of “ayuda” or cash aid in the form of cash transfers and subsidy programs under the proposed 2023 national budget to help cushion the impact of soaring costs.

From this amount, the Department of Social Welfare and Development will be provided with PHP165.40 billion for its several social assistance programs.

A total of PHP22.39 billion will be allocated to the Department of Health to provide financial support to 1.6 million indigent Filipinos cannot afford and access quality medical care, PHP14.9 billion for the Department of Labor and Employment to provide emergency employment for displaced workers, underemployed and seasonal workers; PHP2.5 billion for the Department of Transportation’s provision of fuel subsidies for public transport drivers, and PHP1 billion for the Department of Agriculture for the provision of fuel assistance to corn farmers and fisherfolk.