Reflection 5gd39

REFLECTION TO GIVE OR NOT TO GIVE 4P’S The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Programs poses many appealing objectives, goals and benefits for the poor families that comprises most of the Philippine’s population. The 4Ps is a good example of strengthening the government’s capability of distributing the country’s resources to those who are extremely in need. It is undeniable that there are many poor households that will benefit from the said program, and that the program covers the basic needs that otherwise would go unmet. Likewise, the government’s effort in making the country’s educational and health services system inclusive is a huge step towards social mobility and equality. I feel strongly about the 4Ps’ principle that well-fed and educated citizens are imperative for a productive country and society and I believe that 4Ps program must be given and sure that it continues to be a good investment for the people. The first reason is the 4Ps is NOT the only program in the anti-poverty strategy of the government, yet it’s quite possibly the most important component. The reason is that this program attacks one of the root causes of poverty—weak education, health and other human development characteristics that disadvantage a poor person. No amount of job creation will employ and lift out of poverty millions of under-skilled and unhealthy citizens. No business would get into such an enterprise, and no government can sustain economic growth and job creation on such a weak foundation. Therefore, human capital build-up is, first and foremost, the key ingredient in the strategy. Next, 4Ps can help ensure that the majority of our young people do not fall through the cracks. Because of 4Ps, children will grow up to be educated, healthy, and productive of Philippine society, contributing to the country’s economic competitiveness in the longer term. Therefore, the 4Ps is not merely a matter of charity for poor children as far as the country is concerned—our long run economic growth depends in large part on how successfully we equip our future citizens and workers to compete. On top of all this, the 4Ps is among only a small number of government programs that are actually evaluated for their impact. In fact, the impact evaluation evidence suggests that the design of the 4Ps seems to successfully mitigate any possible dependency effects— poor families’ actually further increase child investments, over and above the cash transfer itself. These are all good reasons to continue to expand and improve the program. Killing this program will bring us back to the previous status quo: no evaluation; poorly targeted; riddled with leakages so that non poor people also benefit, and far less reaches the poor and likely to be dominated by patronage politics.