The Philippine Online Chronicles

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) is preparing a budget execution strategy for the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Education (DepEd), and Department of Health (DOH) to ensure the proper spending of their funds for this year.

All three departments have received increased budgets in the 2011 Reform Budget (previously referred to as the 2011 General Appropriations Act), including a P21 billion allotment for the conditional cash transfer program (CCT) headed by the DSWD.

The CCT program provides cash dole-outs to people in impoverished sectors. Around P500 each are given to mothers, plus P300 per child on the condition that the mothers avail themselves of prenatal care and other check-ups, and that the children are kept in school and receive immunization.

Budget and Management Secretary Florencio Abad said on Sunday however, that financial aid is only one aspect of the CCT program.

“The cash transfers are just one side of the Aquino CCT program,” he said. “Through the 2011 Reform Budget, we are investing in a whole package of social services to reduce poverty and meet our Millennium Development Goals.”

Among the Millennium Development Goals are the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, and achieving universal primary education by 2015.

Increased budget

The DSWD said that it will be increasing the scope of the CCT program to cover 2.3 million impoverished families around the country, up from 1 million in 2010.

“We will take on the responsibility to ensure that the trust given to us will not be wasted,” said Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman.

On the other hand, the DepEd is seeing a 19 percent increase in its budget.

“Certainly, the bigger allocation – from P175 billion in 2010 to P207 billion in 2011 -- means that we can now start to plug shortages and provide for basic learning resources,“ earlier said Education Secretary Armin Luistro.

"This increase will be invested in closing critical resource gaps in education, such as in the construction of 16,972 more classrooms, creation of 15,000 more teaching positions, production of 32.3 million quality textbooks among others," Abad added.

The DOH will be receiving a doubled allocation of P7.1 billion for its Health Facilities Enhancement Program, including P5.7 billion for basic emergency obstetrical and neonatal care facilities. P2.5 billion will also be used for the immunization program, which is set to benefit around 2.5 million children.

Abad added that the DBM is also holding budget execution coordination meetings with other pertinent departments.

"Budget execution coordination meetings are also being held with agencies that implement infrastructure projects to frontload these during the first half in order to take advantage of the good weather,” Abad said. “Aside from DepEd and the health department, these agencies are the Departments of Public Works and Highways, of Transportation and Communication, and of Agriculture.”