Soliman miffed by Arroyo's questions on doleouts | ABS-CBN News | Latest Philippine Headlines, Breaking News, Video, Analysis, Features
Soliman miffed by Arroyo's questions on doleouts
MANILA, Philippines - Social Welfare Secretary Corazon "Dinky" Soliman admitted Thursday that she was slightly miffed with how her former boss, ex-President and now Pampanga 2nd District Rep. Gloria Arroyo, questioned her department's budget for the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program next year.
Soliman and other Department of Social Welfare and Development officials defended Wednesday the DSWD's P21 billion allocation for the CCT program for 2011, up from P10 billion this year. Arroyo questioned the CCT allocation despite launching the program during her administration.
Soliman said Arroyo was just performing her duty as a lawmaker to make sure that the people's money will be spent judiciously by the new administration.
"We are in a democratic process. It is her responsibility to question where the people's money will go. If they have a different motivation, it's none of my business," she told radio dzMM.
Asked if it crossed her mind if she wanted to swap places with Arroyo and ask her former boss some questions, Soliman replied: "That crossed my mind but I have learned to be more patient from the farmers and the fishermen that I regularly deal with."
Arroyo and Soliman had a falling-out in 2005 when the latter resigned and joined other Cabinet members in calling for the President's resignation.
During the interview, Soliman said some DSWD officials were surprised by the former president's tack because it was her administration that started the CCT program. She said the Aquino leadership is just trying to continue and expand the program.
Soliman, meanwhile, said that she feels that she has fairly answered the questions of the former president and other members of the House on the expanded CCT program.
She said the department has provided the House members complete data that would justify the allotment of the P21 billion CCT program fund.
She added that the DSWD's budget claim is also supported by the Department of Education and the Department of Health, whose responsibilities will also benefit from the expanded CCT program.
'Dinky's confirmation in danger over doleouts'
Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, meanwhile, said Soliman could face a hard time before the bicameral Commission on Appointments due to lingering doubts about the wisdom of the P21 billion CCT program.
“It is unconscionable to make drastic cuts in the budget of the University of the Philippines (UP) and other state universities and colleges, which cater to poor students, in order to support a program of dole-outs without the necessary preparation,” Santiago, who is a member of the CA, said in a statement.
Budget Secretary Florencio Abad proposed massive cuts in the budget of UP and other state universities and colleges (SUCs) for 2011. From P6.9 billion in 2010, Abad decreased UP’s budget to P5.5 billion, or a difference of P1.4 billion. Other SUCs are also threatened with budget cuts. Abad wants them to have a budget of P21.7 billion, down by some P700 million from their budget of P22.4 billion in 2010.
“Cutting the budget of UP and SUCs to expand the CCT program is not the answer,” Santiago fumed.
Santiago said that the CCT program should go hand in hand with improvement of health and welfare services and infrastructure.
“Under the present CCT program, parents must ensure that their children go to school, and undergo regular health check-ups to continue to qualify for the program. But how can they do this if there are not enough schools or barangay health workers to see to their needs?” Santiago asked.
Last year, Santiago and Arroyo met with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to discuss the formula for the success of his Bolsa Familia program.
The Bolsa Familia program has been a huge success in Brazil. It is hailed all over the world for reducing poverty in Brazil.
After her meeting with Lula, Santiago filed Senate Bill No. 92, entitled “Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program Act,” which is her own version of the CCT program. It is patterned after Brazil’s Bolsa Familia program.
Santiago’s bill “addresses structural inequities in society and promotes human capital development of the poor, thus breaking the intergenerational cycle of poverty.”
She wants qualified beneficiary families to receive cash grants from the government conditioned upon parents undergoing training on responsible parenthood, having their children undergo regular health check-ups, ensuring their children go to school, and other conditions that promote the family’s health and welfare.
The feisty senator also underscored the need to pass her Senate Bill No. 2378 or the Reproductive Health Bill.
Originally Posted by KlaytoN
If this is really your sentiment, then why don't you ask your idol Pres GMA and her minions on why they derailed the passing of the FOI Bill last congress?
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