DURING the State of the Nation Address (SONA), Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced the approval of additional cash grants for impoverished Filipinos.
Marcos said he has instructed to include additional cash assistance for pregnant women under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).
He wants it to be included in the proposed 2025 national budget of the administration.
“To ensure the nutrition of children zero to [2] years old from the poorest families, we have proposed for the 2025 budget a new grant under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) for this purpose,” stated Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.
Marcos’s statement received a negative reaction from an economist. According to Dr. Michael Batu, an economist, the expansion of the Marcos government’s aid program even after the pandemic shows that the economic situation is not improving but worsening, contrary to what the President stated in his SONA.
“This tells me that the economy is worsening. Why do I say this? Because when the economy is improving and prosperous, assistance programs should not be expanding, they should be shrinking. When the economy prospers, there’s less need for these dole-outs given to the poor. Based on what Marcos Jr. said yesterday, the expansion of aid programs signals that the economy requires more assistance, and the economy is worsening,” said Michael Batu, Economist.
“If Marcos Jr.’s claim of leading us to a prosperous economy is true, where there is supposed to be prosperity and progress, it means that the amount of aid distributed should be decreasing. If you compare the assistance now to the time during the pandemic, more aid is being distributed now than during the pandemic,” he added.
Economist criticizes inclusion of politicians’ faces, names in dole-outs
Furthermore, Dr. Batu said the government is giving away financial aid in order to gain favor in areas where they have a low trust rating.
“In a region, you can see their trust ratings dropping, for example in Mindanao. If you remember, this week nearing the SONA, the President [BBM] and Speaker Romualdez went to the regions in Mindanao. They were giving away money, they were giving away clothes to the poor. Why are their trust ratings low in those areas? We know that Mindanao is a stronghold of Duterte. Clearly, we can see that government resources are being used and exploited by the current administration not to improve the lives of ordinary Filipinos, but to advance their political ambitions,” stated Batu.
And because these aids are allegedly in aid of election, Batu said politicians are reportedly shamelessly putting their faces and names on the packages they distribute to the poor.
“Imagine sacks of rice with the names of politicians on them, even the bags containing 2 kilograms of rice have the names of those distributing them. These politicians are thick-faced. They put their names on the aid—but the aid comes from the people’s money. That’s not their money,” he also added.
