EDITORIAL

by Ernesto T. Solidum

Prioritize Infrastructure 

Development Projects Over CCT

P-noy’s spending spree on poverty alleviation through Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) will amount to P44.25 billion in 2013. This will cover 3.8 million households earning below P240.00 per day for a family of 5 members. Another program is Kapit Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi–CIDSS) with a funding of $120 million. CCT is implemented by DSWD giving out P1,400 per month to recipients also touted as an investment in education and health. DSWD Kalahi-CIDSS administered program will improve infra and social services for the poor and strengthen the capacity of local population lift themselves out of poverty. Data showed that 43 percent of Philippine populations were living below the poverty line in 2010 when P-noy assumed the Presidency.

After spending nearly P45 billion for CCT and Kalahi-CIDSS program, is the situation of those who have less in life improved for the better?

Well, US based International Fund Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) reported that hunger in the Philippines increased from 11.5 percent in 2011 to 12.2 percent in 2012. This is corroborated by a UN study which found that six (6) million children are malnourished. 

For the first quarter of 2012, Social Weather Station data show that some 4.8 million or 23.8 percent families said they experienced hunger while 5.8 percent or 1.2 million families had severe hunger. The UP Population Institute declared that 25 million Filipinos live in absolute poverty. Aklan belongs to the top 20 poorest provinces in the country.

There is incontrovertible evidence that CCT is an abysmal exercise in failure. It has grown from 760,350 households to 3.1 million. Current budget of CCT is slightly lower than the total funding of Department of Health’s P44.4 billion. The fund is loaned from the World Bank and government plans to spend P70 billion more until 2015 said Budget Secretary Florencio Abad. 

Let’s take a quick look at how China improved the lives of its 1.3 billion populations. The government for the last 5 years invested heavily on road infrastructure. China’s expressway network is very impressive. It totals 74,000 kilometers long which is second only to the United States. China’s GDP growth consistently registers 8-9 percent per year. There is fast rising middle class as people flock to the cities. China is second largest economy in the world dislodging Japan, thanks to the pragmatic vision of her leaders.

Comparative data show that the Philippines spends 3.0 percent of GDP on infra, Thailand – 4.8 percent, Malaysia – 5.4 percent and Indonesia – 7.0 percent. This only proves our low commitment to road infra program. In most part of Mindanao, farmers huddle in makeshift huts while their corn produce rots because of difficulty of bringing harvest to market. (Some funds are corrupted and misused.)

Providing an all weather road network to and from agro-aqua areas with links to commercial centers provides excellent economic incentive for growth. Aklan has 160.75 kilometers of national road, and 308 kilometers of provincial roads. Considering traffic volume of transport vehicles like 6 and 10 wheeler trucks, passenger trucks and vans using the national highway, there is urgent need to convert existing 2 lane road into a 4 lane facility to maximize traffic volume and road safety with vehicles operating at desired 60 kms. per hour. Similarly, provincial and municipal roads must be converted to all weather roads, connecting all barangays. 

Household and income surveys conducted by National Statistics Office a decade ago revealed that Libacao and Madalag topped the highest level of poverty incidence at 71 percent. Despite big volume of agriculture products like abaca, copra, bananas and rootcrops, high transport cost of bringing them to market is not commensurate. In the same manner, production inputs brought to the farm like fertilizer, seeds and pesticides proved highly difficult, expensive and time consuming. 

It is a pity that communities located in remote areas of this country are without road, school, health center, power and potable water where 7 out of 10 patients die without seeing a doctor. The only key to economic development of depressed communities is to build a good road network. America was back on its feet after the second World War when Pres. Dwight Eisenhower mobilized US resources for massive road building program. 

Poverty amelioration programs are keenly aware of this shortcoming. At least half of the funding of Kalahi-CIDSS goes to construction of feeder roads and bridges. Experience show that without road, human life is a misery and meaningless. It is difficult to imagine that city folks communicate via internet while most barangays through the smoke signal band.

Virtually, the decision is for Pres. Aquino whether to spend billions of pesos on CCT where it is unsound, impractical and unsustainable or to road infrastructure development program covering all 41,995 barangays. The formers’ impact is transitory while the latter is stable and permanent CCT is certainly a waste of public funds since people become mendicants instead of being self-reliant and industrious. 

For P-noy to decrease infra outlay to 5.0 percent of GDP in order to cope with global competitiveness, employment generation, agro-aqua linkage and tourism. Moreover, PDAF allocation of congressmen and senators (P70 million and P200 million each respectively) must be scrapped since 30 percent of this funds is considered kickback. /MP