Philippine News
Nancy Binay rescheds CCT hearing to tackle bills to help street children
MANILA – Sen. Nancy Binay on Thursday decided to put off her first hearing on the alleged irregularities involving the government’s conditional cash transfer (CCT) program to tackle bills to help abandoned children.
Binay said that the recent visit of Pope Francis inspired her to deal with bills that will help abandoned children.
“Pope Francis wants us to tackle measures that promote peace, inclusiveness and the welfare of the children and the poor. It’s good to discuss immediately how we could help abandoned babies and children because they need our help,” said Binay said in a statement.
She also said that she wants to reflect on the Pontiff’s words, thus the reason why she rescheduled her meeting.
“During his visit, he taught us about the importance of mercy and compassion. It is in this light that I suggested that we instead use this time to reflect on the words of our Holy Father,” she said.
She added, “Let us put the welfare of children and women first because this is usually neglected.”
The hearing, which was prompted by a resolution written by Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, will then be moved to a later date.
Defensor-Santiago asked the Senate to investigate the program. The CCT program was established in a bid to provide monthly cash assistance to the poorest of the poor in exchange for sending their children to school and getting pregnant women to have themselves checked on a monthly basis.