In this issue is a news item about the displeasure of Bayawan City Vice Mayor Ismael Martinez about the government’s 4P’s program.
The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, managed by the Department of Social Welfare & Development, is also called the Conditional Cash Transfer program. It gives cash to identified poor families on condition that they will send their children to school, and provide them with adequate medical care, among other things.
This is given only to residents of local government units which have been identified as poor. Bayawan City, despite its enviable cash position because of its Internal Revenue Allotment, has almost 6,000 beneficiaries of the 4Ps program.
This, Martinez said, is not something to be proud of. Something has to be done to uplift the lives of the people, although beneficiaries are happy that government is extending help through the conditional cash transfer scheme.
However, he said this creates a bad image for Bayawan City as it means it has the most number of the poorest of the poor in the Province.
When this program was new, then Gov. Emilio Macias II was also not pleased that Negros Oriental was tagged as one of the poorest Provinces in the country.
It seemed ironical that with a capital City growing by about 30 percent per year, the rest of the Province has not caught up with the pace.
But Macias’ mind about it changed when he learned of the 4Ps program. He said it didn’t matter if the Province was classified as poor, for as long as his constituents stand to benefit from such a program.
Yes, for a city or town official, it may hurt to be called “poor” as it would negate all the programs that the government had been introducing for decades. But however sad it would seem to be, that’s reality. Eighty percent of the people are poor, and admit it.
At least, for now, the people are happily on the receiving end of the equation.
