DAVAO CITY – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has started the two-day international conference to discuss the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program in the Philippines on January 12-13.
The event which is held at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Headquarters, carries the theme “Sustaining the Gains of the Conditional Cash Transfer Program in the Philippines”.
International CCT practitioners, implementers, and beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilya program will be participating in the activity.
DSWD Secretary Corazon Soliman said: “The purpose of the conference is for us to examine the uniqueness of the CCT program of the Philippines, or the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program. Through the conference, we will be able to discuss lessons and come up with improvements to the program.”
ADB President Takehiko Nakao will deliver his message of support for the conference and for the CCT program.
Other guests include ADB Country Director Richard Bolt, Australian Embassy Deputy Head of Mission Dr. David Dutton, and Mexico’s former National Coordinator of Oportunidades Rogelio Gomez Hermosillo.
The first ever CCT conference is co-funded by the Philippine Government, Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), and the ADB.
The program provides monthly cash grants to beneficiaries who comply with the conditions of sending their children to school, bringing them to health centers, and attending the Family Development Sessions.
But critics of the program said it does not address the root cause of poverty.
The recent 2015 self-rated poverty survey showed 50% of the respondents , or an estimated equivalent of 11.2 million families, rating themselves as “poor”. (davaotoday.com)
