Poverty reduction remains central for better governance as manifested in the 2012 National Budget.
Speaking in behalf of Budget Secretary Florencio Abad during the Economic Briefing held Friday (Oct 21) in Davao City , DBM Region 11 director Achilles Bravo reported how the present administration puts enough weight on poverty reduction in the appropriation of the national budget.
He reported that the Social Services sector gets the bulk of the total budget with about P575.8 billion. This has increased more than 10 percent as compared to the previous year’s budgetary allocation.
About three million households are set to benefit from the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) as this remains a priority poverty alleviation program of the Aquino administration.
To safeguard the credibility of choosing 4Ps beneficiaries, the administration set up a National Household Targeting System (NHTS), a tool that would accurately identify the real poor. This increases the precision of targeting the poor.
The DBM also reported that P17.4 billion as proposed is targeted for the construction of over 41,000 new classrooms, 25,667 water and sanitation facilities, and 2.5 million new school chairs.
DBM also highlighted the Public-Private Partnerships to be utilized to implement social services. Projects include construction of school buildings, health centers and government infrastructures.
Of the P182.2 billion allocated for the infrastructure investment program, P22.1 billion is set for the entry of private capital in critical infrastructure and other projects in support of the PPP program. [PIA11/Mai Gevera-Macapagat]
