The release of targeted subsidies to the most vulnerable Filipino families will cushion the impact of elevated oil prices as well as other commodities, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said yesterday.
NEDA said this in a statement after the Department of Budget and Management approved the release of the special allotment release order worth P4.1 billion for the Targeted Cash Transfer (TCT) Program.
“The timely release of the fund is crucial in the government’s efforts to help the poor cope with the continuous rise in commodity prices due to external shocks and other factors,” Arsenio Balisacan, socioeconomic planning secretary, said.
The cash transfer program is an important intervention to protect the purchasing power of the poor, which is among the priorities of the Marcos administration’s 8-point Socioeconomic Agenda, he added.
NEDA is tasked to flesh out the 8-point Agenda in the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028, which NEDA committed to deliver by the end of the year.
“Our near-term goal as envisioned in our 8-point Agenda is to safeguard Filipinos against the most pressing issues today, which are rising inflation and the lingering socioeconomic scarring caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Balisacan said.
The P4.1 billion budget allotment is part of the second tranche requirements for implementing the TCT Program. It will benefit over four million beneficiaries, who mostly belong to the poorest 50 percent of the country’s population.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is tasked to distribute the cash subsidy. Under the program, DSWD will provide P500 per month for each beneficiary for two months. Distribution will be through remittance centers, special disbursing officers and the Land Bank of the Philippines. – Angela Celis
