Lacson eyes ayuda integration under 4Ps
Senator-elect Panfilo ''Ping'' Lacson is eyeing to integrate all forms of ''ayuda'' or government aid under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) program.
Lacson said this is part of his push for good governance, including the intensified scrutiny of the national budget bill.
"This early, I have instructed my prospective legislative staff to draft an amendment to Republic Act 11310, the law on the 4Ps program, to expand it and address the sectors covered by the other forms of ayuda that have become confusing and have become a political tool used by some politicians for their campaigns, both during and outside of the campaign period," Lacson said in Filipino in a radio interview on Monday.
"Expanding the 4Ps will be better because the 4Ps has a data-driven list of beneficiaries; unlike other ayuda programs that are indiscriminate and are prone to duplication like TUPAD, AKAP, AICS, and MAIP," he added.
This as he lamented how some lawmakers had got involved in the distribution of at least one ayuda program, the Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP), even if they are not part of the implementing agencies.
He pointed out that 4Ps and its implementation involves studies conducted by the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Labor and Employment, and other concerned implementing agencies.
The 4Ps serves as a national poverty reduction strategy and a human capital investment program that provides conditional cash transfers to poor households for a maximum period of seven years, to improve the health, nutrition, and education of children aged 0 to 18.
Aside from the integration of government assistance, Lacson vowed to also intensify his scrutiny of the national budget, including reviewing the implementation of this year's, which he described as "one of the most corrupt national budgets" he had seen in his 18 years in the Senate.
"I will intensify my scrutiny of the budget after a three-year absence. I want to study the pattern of how the national budgets of the last three years were passed," he said.
"I will prioritize scrutinizing the national budget, which is the lifeline of our economy. Without the budget, we cannot move," he added.
The former Philippine National Police chief will also provide more support for local government units by giving them a possible one-percent rebate on their Value Added Tax (VAT) remittances to the national government.
Lacson, who was part of the administration's Alyansa Para Sa Bagong Pilipinas, was proclaimed senator last Saturday at the Manila Hotel. —Anna Felicia Bajo/AOL, GMA Integrated News
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