PIA Dispatch - Monday, August 17, 2009

'Cash transfer program' coverage increases to one million families per month

SULTAN NAGA DIMAPORO, Lanao Del Norte, Aug. 17 - President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo announced today (Aug. 17) that the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps will increase the number of its target beneficiaries from 700,000 to one million poor families per month.

The President made the announcement here, where she personally handed cash assistance to family-beneficiaries in the area. So far, 28,929 households from 317 barangays in 15 municipalities of the province are getting regular support under the program.

Also known as the Conditional Cash Transfer Program, Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program “works to address the structural inequities in society and promotes the human capital development of the poor, thus working to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty.”

The government had originally targeted 300,000 poor families at the start of the program, later raised to 700,000, and expanded to one million families today.
While pleased with the way the program has progressed, President Arroyo said the government could do more.

“There are too many poor families,” the President said. “I am working to extend the benefits of the program to as many as 20 percent of the country’s 4.6 million poor families,” she added.

“That may seem overly ambitious, but during my recent visit to Brazil, I learned that a similar program there has universal coverage,” the President said. “Alleviating poverty throughout the Philippines is my goal and we will use all available resources. . . for that important mission,” she emphasized.

An additional P5-Billion has been earmarked for the expanded 4Ps coverage.

On fears raised that the program would only serve to promote a dole-out mentality, the president said the immediate purpose is to save the children of the recipient families from the debilitating effects of grinding poverty.

“That alone is a worthy goal,” she said. “But there is more to this program. We want to give our people a fighting chance to improve their lot, on their own steam.”

The cash component of the program is P500 per month per family for health and nutrition needs, and an additional P300 per child in school, for a maximum of three (3) children per family.

According to the President a follow-up study of the program’s recipients has yielded very encouraging results.

“The parents who receive support under the program, especially pregnant women, are now regularly visiting clinics and health centers,” she said. “Their children also have higher school attendance records. These are some of the goals of this program.”

The 4Ps Conditional Cash Transfer Program is scheduled to run for only five (5) years, but to ensure long term sustainability of the program from one administration to the next, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago has introduced a bill that would institutionalize it.

The Senate bill and its counterpart legislation in the House of Representatives, President Arroyo said, seek to improve maternal health and reduce child mortality, eliminate extreme hunger and achieve universal primary education.


June ’09 remittance posts record high inflows of US$ 1.5B; totals US$ 8.5B in H1 of '09

MANILA, Aug. 17 – The record-high of nearly US$ 1.5 billion Overseas Filipino (OF) remittances in June 2009 alone is a testimony of earlier projections that inflows would remain resilient this year amid the global downturn.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Monday said remittances grew 3.3 percent in June this year to US$ 1.49 billion from the US$ 1.45 billion in June 2008.

This brought the inflows in the first six months this year to US$ 8.5 billion, or a jump of 2.9 percent compared to the US$ 8.24 billion in end-June last year.

Bulk of these came from the US, Canada, Saudi Arabia, UK, Japan, Singapore, UAE, Italy, and Germany.

BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said inflows from land-based and sea-based workers both registered higher inflows of 2.5 percent and 4.5 percent, respectively.

“The continued growth of remittance flows since January this year, accompanied by emerging signs of improving global economic conditions, have affirmed the positive outlook for steady remittance for 2009,” he stressed.

Tetangco traced the continued strong inflows to both the high demand for highly-skilled and professional Filipino workers and the wide array of services and products being offered by domestic banks and their counterparts abroad.

He said deployment of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) is expected to remain robust in the coming months due to, among others, the employment arrangements of the Philippine government with its counterpart in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Australia, and South Korea.

Apart from the possible recruitment of around 4,000 Filipino medical workers in Libya, the BSP chief said the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Tripoli is checking out employment possibilities for Filipinos in non-traditional markets like Algeria, Chad, Malta, and Morroco, particularly in the hotel, oil, gas and technical services sectors.

The central bank also said that more OFWs are expected to be deployed in Taiwan, among others, due to the Special Hiring Program for Taiwan (SHPT).


Military optimistic in finishing off the ASG by year end

MANILA, August 17 – Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom) chief Maj. Gen. Ben Dolorfino on Monday expressed optimism that government security forces can defeat the terrorist Abu Sayyaf group in Basilan province within the year.

Dolorfino said that intensified military operations, in close coordination with local government officials in Basilan, government security forces will be able to finally finish the Abu Sayyaf menace.

”We can wipe out the Abu Sayyaf by the year end by intensifying our military operations,” said Dolorfino during a broadcast interview.

”We are seeking the cooperation of the mayors of the area to cooperate with the military operations. As far as we know, there are 80 members of Abu Sayyaf in Basilan,” Dolorfino also said.

Last Wednesday, day-long clashes erupted between government security forces and Abu Sayyaf bandits in Tipo-tipo town resulting in the killing of 23 soldiers, including two young lieutenants, and at least 31 combined Abu Sayyaf and lawless members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

The presence of MILF rebels in the area during the encounter has prompted the AFP to file formal complaint before the coordinating committee on cessation of hostilities (CCCH) which is monitoring the ceasefire between the government and the secessionist group.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has declared suspension of offensive military operations against the MILF to pave the way for the smooth resumption of the peace negotiations between the Government of the republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the MILF.

The MILF, on the other hand, reciprocated the move by declaring its own suspension of military action against the AFP.

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu, however, explained that the military fired upon the MILF troops during pursuit operations against the Abu Sayyaf.

The AFP had said that the MILF leadership was aware of the military operations in Tipo-tipo and should have not have its fighters in the area which is known to be a stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf bandits.

”In our own investigation, military reinforcements fired MILF troops while running after the Abu Sayyaf…there is really a need for an independent investigation by the GRP and MILF panels,” said Kabalu.

Despite the Tipo-tipo incident, both the AFP and the MILF have expressed optimism that such will not derail the resumption of formal peace negotiations between the GRP and the MILF.


Almost all drugstores/pharmacies in Metro Manila complied with price cut on drugs – DOH

MANILA, Aug. 17 – Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Monday said that 90 percent of drugstores and pharmacies in Metro Manila have complied with the 50 percent price cut that took effect August 15 on 49 brand names of essential drugs.

“The compliance rate was based on the rounds we have conducted since August 15 until today. Some drugstores and pharmacies have complied the day after the start of implementation. It is nice to see that almost all of them have posters for the public to view the list of the drugs and new prices of essential drugs,” Duque said.

He said said the compliance of Mercury Drug Store and Watson's Drug Store have pulled up the compliance rates as they have about a thousand outlets nationwide.

Duque said that he got positive responses from consumers whom he interviewed during the rounds. He said most of them we’re gladdened by the new prices saying that they can now purchase the drugs even with a tight budget.

“There’s this lady I interviewed who said that she only has a budget for five tablets of the antibiotic Ciprobay. But when she learned that its price dropped to 50 percent, she told me that she is very pleased that she can now buy the complete prescription of Ciprobay for his sick father,” Duque said.

As shown on the Voluntary Reduction Price List, Ciprobay 500mg tablet manufactured by Bayer costs P88.83 before, but now it costs only P41.91.

Another consumer – Teofila Francisco, 64, who is a patron of Telmisartan, a drug she always buy for her hypertension – said that she was relieved by the new price of Boehringer (Micardis) by GSK which was priced P89.00 before and now costs only P44.50.

“With the affordable prices of medicines especially for maintenance medication and antibiotics, patients can now complete their antibiotic courses and become more compliant with their daily maintenance medicines,” Duque said.

Although the DOH said almost all drugstores and pharmacies have complied with the new prices, Duque said there have been reports of stores that did not pull down the prices of drugs under the new list.

He said one customer showed that a drugstore defied the presidential order to slash retail prices of essential medicines based on a receipt shown he submitted to the DOH.

Duque asked consumers to keep receipts of their medicine purchases to help identify drugstores that are not complying with the Cheaper Medicines Act.

The DOH chief said he will call for an investigation on the erring drugstore before they will file charges for violation of the Consumer’s Act with punishment fines and possible revocation of license to operate.

The DOH has setup compliant desks with hotline 807-0751 or 8078275 in Metro Manila. Duque said for those in the provinces, consumers can view the hotlines as indicated on the list posted on drugstores and pharmacies.

Executive Order 821 signed last month by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, mandated a 50-percent cut on the prices of five medicines considered essential and currently sold at exorbitant prices in the Philippines.

The medicines with cheaper prices include anti-hypertensives, anti-thrombotic,anti-diabetic/antihypoglycemic, and antibiotic/antibacterial.

Big drugstores and hospital pharmacies were given the August 15 deadlines to comply with the price cut while small drugstores and medium-scale drugstores with manual inventory systems were given up to September 15 to comply.


This August, start taking care of your eyes – DOH

The Department of Health (DOH) today reminded the public to take care of their eyes as approximately 314 million people worldwide are estimated to live with low vision and blindness, according to the 2002 World Health Organization data.

“We have coordinated a nationwide eye screening and cataract surgery with selected government and private hospitals, so I urge the public to have their eyes checked up to prevent blindness later in life”, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said.

The global figure translates to 3.4 million Filipinos who are visually impaired, according to the 3rd National Blindness Survey done in 2002. Of these, 3.2 million have visual impairment in one or both eyes while 461,121 are blind in both eyes.

“According to the same survey, blindness was most common among the elderly and the poor who have no access to health facilities”, Duque said, adding that as one grows older, one gets more prone to have an error of refraction, or glaucoma, or cataract, or blindness due to diabetes, hypertension.

Based on the same survey, the top three causes of visual impairment are cataract, error of refraction, and glaucoma. Cataract is the number one cause of reversible blindness in the country, with prevalence highest among the poor and underserved. Errors of refraction can usually be corrected with eyeglasses.

Experts said that glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that gradually lead to loss of vision, often without warning. This disease is hardly preventable when blindness has set in. What is important is early detection; however, this can only be done with high technology equipment. This makes the number of glaucoma cases under-estimated.

The reminder was made as part of the national observance of this month as Sight-Saving Month whose theme is, “Excellence and Equity in Eye Care: A Human Right”.

“Quality and affordable eye care must be made accessible to all Filipinos of all social strata. This is a basic right that should be accorded to everyone, without discrimination as to age, sex, gender, religion, race, or social standing”, declared Duque adding that the challenge now is how to bring affordable and excellent eye care to all areas of the country.

This year, the DOH and its partner agencies and organizations under the National Committee for Sight Preservation, aims to put up local Committees for Sight Preservation in the different regions and provinces of the country. Under their local chief executives (LCEs), these committees will coordinate the delivery of eye care services at the local level, such as eye screening and cataract surgery programs for the indigent constituents ofthe community.

A local Committee for Sight Preservation will be composed of ophthalmologists,optometrists, local health care personnel, representatives of civic organizations and non-government organizations, and volunteers from the community.

Duque also advocated to the non-government organizations to help the LCEs by providing human resources or logistics for cataract surgeries and providing eyeglasses. He also challenged the PhilHealth to look into providing coverage to specialists who work in hazardous or hard-to-reach areas.“The end goal is that eye care services will be integrated in the local health services system”, Duque concluded.