BAGUIO CITY – Senatorial candidate and Leyte 1st district Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez is pushing for the increase of the monthly cash assistance of the beneficiaries of the government’s Conditional Cash Transfer from P1,400 to P2,000 that will include the supplemental feeding program in order to improve the state of health of children in the countryside.
Romualdez argued that if the government can afford to allow the reversion of a total of P1.2 trillion to the national coffers over the past two years, there is sufficient funds to bankroll the proposed increase in the cash assistance to CCT beneficiaries and increase their number aside from incorporation another aspect of the program which is good nutrition for their children through supplemental feeding in public schools.
“We want to make sure that our children who are supposed to be the future of our fatherland should be accorded the proper nutrition while they are young so that their potentials will be easily developed in order for them to become future leaders in their respective communities.
Romualdez wants that the P500 monthly health benefit given to the households should be increased to P800 aside from the P6,000 annual health benefits for the families of the CCT beneficiaries.
Romualdez proposed that the monthly cash assistance for children enrolled from kindergarten to elementary will be increased from P300 to P500 monthly for ten months, those enrolled in junior high school will also get an increase of the cash assistance from P500 to P700 monthly for ten months while those enrolled in senior high school will also get an increase from P700 to P900 monthly for ten months.
Aside from the increase in the health and education assistance, the lawmaker is also pushing for the putting in place of a nutritional assistance of P800 per month or P9,600 annually per qualified household in order to maximize the utilization of the assistance to improve their health condition.
According to him, once elected as a senator, he will prioritize the legislation and enactment of the enhanced CCT into law so that more Filipinos will benefit from its implementation in the future.
Romualdez said the proposed CCT law will incorporate the appropriate safety nets to make sure that those indigent Filipinos will be the ones to directly benefit from the enhanced cash assistance package and to prevent politicians from using the program as their vehicle for being elected into public office even if they funds used for the purpose are coming from the government.
By Dexter A. See