DOF asked to look for money for increased cash aid
Increasing the proposed monthly subsidy for poor families from P200 to P500 will help them cope in the midst of skyrocketing fuel prices, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte said on Monday, noting he has ordered the finance department to find a way to fund the scheme.
“I’d like to announce na --- sinabi ko kay Sonny (Dominguez), well also from the ground, ‘yung feedback, ‘yung ayuda niyo na P200. Sabi ko rin sa kanya talaga it’s too small, too small sa isang buwan,” President Duterte said during the ceremonial signing of the Public Service Act and Presentation of Various Enacted Laws in MalacaΓ±ang.
“Kaya sabi ko, ‘Maghanap ka ng pera saan.’ Nagbubulungan kami. Masyadong mababa ‘yan. Cannot sustain a family of three, even four, five, ‘yung nasa baba, ‘yung may pinakamaraming anak.”
The recipients of the subsidy will be the country’s productive citizens in the future, he pointed out, adding it’s up to the next president to adjust.
The cash aid will be handed out to poor households already receiving conditional cash grants under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), according to the Palace.
Communications Secretary Martin
Andanar said in a radio interview that the monthly subsidy is on top of the
cash grants already being given to beneficiaries of 4Ps, adding the additional
aid will help them cope with inflation as a result of oil price increases.
Last week, President Duterte approved
the recommendations of the finance department to support poor households in
response to the rising fuel prices.
The recommendations include the
retention of the fuel excise taxes and the grant of P200-per-month cash aid to
the bottom 50 percent of Filipino households.
During President Duterte’s Talk to
the People briefing last Wednesday, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said
retaining fuel excise tax collection will benefit at least 12 million
individuals from low-income households in the country.
Apart from the poor sector, the
excise tax on fuel imposed under Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN)
Law will also provide the budget for the salaries of state workers and help
fund infrastructure developments in the country, he pointed out.
The finance chief also refuted claims
that suspending the collection of fuel excise tax will help soften the blow of
the oil price hike, saying that this will instead cause more harm than good if
it causes the Philippines’ debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio to
increase.
Moreover, if the tax on fuel is
reduced, it will only benefit the top 10 percent of income earners in the
Philippines, which consume almost 50 percent of all the fuel. PND
