Gov’t urged to prioritize flood victims in cash transfer program Sunday, August 12, 2012 MANILA – A member of Congress advised the government to prioritize flood victims in the selection of new beneficiaries for its conditional cash transfer (CCT) program. Under the proposed national budget for 2013, the government is targeting to increase its household beneficiaries from 3.1 million this year to 3.8 million in 2013, said Aurora Representative Sonny Angara on Saturday. Angara, who joined President Benigno Aquino III in the government’s relief operations, said poor families do not need a “one-time hand out of a bag of groceries but sustained assistance” like the cash transfer program. “The best and obvious candidates for inclusion are those who have all lost what little they have in the recent floods,” Angara said. “After the floods have subsided, long after television crews have packed up, and the last relief convoy has passed by, there should be a kind of help on the ground that should linger for a while,” he said. The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is proposing a budget of P44.3 billion for the implementation of the CCT program next year. CCT beneficiaries are given a maximum of P1,400 in monthly subsidy. There are, however, conditions attached to the CCT program, which include attending family development sessions and sending children to school. Amid the recent calamity brought by the southwest monsoon, Angara said the government should also consider adding as a condition the clean-up of waterways for families living in slums. “That way government will be hitting two birds with one stone: help the poor and create an army of river stewards,” he said. In a related development, Civil defense chief Benito Ramos said that police, soldiers, coast guard personnel and military reservists will be used to help Manila recover from its worst flooding since 2009. Hundreds of volunteers who helped in rescue and relief work in the early days of the floods will also help in the cleanup. The Office of Civil Defense said Saturday the floods left at least 66 people dead and affected up to 2.68 million people in Manila and nearby provinces, with more than 440,000 fleeing to evacuation centers. Corazon Jimenez, general manager of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, which is in charge of traffic management and garbage disposal for the sprawling capital of 12 million, said part of the cleanup will involve collecting the garbage that has washed from creeks and rivers into Manila Bay. “I can’t describe this anymore. These are mountains of garbage,” she said. Incessant rains from Sunday through Wednesday swelled rivers and creeks and overwhelmed drainage canals already clogged with garbage, raising flood waters that at the peak submerged more than half of metropolitan Manila. Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman said authorities have already closed about 100 of 351 government-run shelters in the metropolis as evacuees trickled home. She said the government planned to relocate about half a million urban poor families in the capital, most of them living in “danger zones” such as by river banks and under bridges. “It can be done, but that would need a lot of help and a lot of political will from people involved,” Soliman said. She didn’t say how much the relocation would cost, but said funding wasn’t a problem because of prudent spending by the government and anti-corruption measures. Also, Malacanang said on Saturday that Australia will extend assistance to the victims of massive flooding in Metro Manila and Central Luzon. Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said that Australia’s pledge was an addition to the commitment made by the United States and the European Union in aiding the displaced population. The death toll from the torrential rains and flooding brought by the southwest monsoon has climbed to 77, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said Saturday. In its latest bulletin at 5 p.m., the NDRRMC said that of the 77 reported dead, 12 were victims of a landslide, 58 died due to drowning, three due to electrocution, two due to heart attack, one due to fallen trees and one case of undetermined death. Meanwhile, Malacanang distanced itself on the supposed early campaigning of some “senatoriables” who tagged along with President Aquino during his visits in flood-stricken areas. Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte refused to comment on Saturday as to who had advised the President to bring with him during his rounds in some evacuation centers in Metro Manila and Central Luzon these personalities, who reportedly would be part of the senatorial slate of the administration’s Liberal Party (LP). Among those personalities who were seen in most of the President’s visits in areas affected by the monsoon rains were Akbayan party-list spokesperson Risa Hontiveros, and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) director general Joel Villanueva. On the other hand, Valte said those Cabinet officials who went with the President in visiting the evacuees were invited. (Kathrina Alvarez/AP/SDR/Sunnex) http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2012/08/12/gov-t-urged-prioritize-flood-victims-cash-transfer-program-236978
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