PIA Press Release
2010/12/01
Globe, rural banks to distribute cash for Philippine CCT
Balabac, Palawan (1 December) -- Conditional cash transfers (CCT) for the 4Ps beneficiaries is now made more accessible, easier, and hassle-free with the new innovative solution utilizing the GCash, rural banks and other money remittances channels.
Land Bank used to distribute these cash grants, which are meant to provide for the education and health needs of the children and pregnant mother in a poor family, in exchange for their compliance to a list of program conditionalities.
A 4Ps beneficiary waits for the confirmation of her reference code sent through text in the new GCash remit for the release of cash grants. |
Innovative Solutions
GCash Remit is one of the solutions to address this problem. With this new cash release scheme, beneficiaries are saved from spending on fares, some of which are even bigger than the cash grants that they are set to receive.
"Secretary (Dinky) Soliman really wants to bring the money closer to the people," says Director Honorita Bayudan, the new National Program Manager of 4Ps, during the evaluation meeting for the pilot GCash Remit. Bringing the money closer to the people means utilizing "merchants in the market" who can do the job, even if it will entail additional administrative cost for the Department.
"If it saves beneficiaries from spending their money, which are already so little, the Secretary doesn't mind," Dir. Bayudan continued.
Out of the nine Landbank branches in five island provinces of the MIMAROPA region, only two are actually 4Ps-covered areas. This means that there are 30 other towns which have to spend on transportation. This is where GCash Remit Outlets will come in as well as other conduits, such as rural banks or local cooperatives, in areas where there is no GCash Remit.
Challenging Geographical Locations
It is no surprise that the program, which targets helping the poorest of the poor, will cover far-flung areas not even known to the general public. Reaching these poor people then entails high transportation cost and long hours of travel.
For instance, Martasia Aminola, a Molbog native from Balabac, Palawan will have to spend almost P1,500 to reach the nearest LBP in Brooke's Point. The amount she will spend is more than what her family is set to receive for a month. With two children in elementary school and a toddler aged 2, she is supposed to get P1,100.00.
But for this, she has to travel about 70 nautical miles from her home which includes 1 hour walk down the mountain and another 1hour motorcycle ride which cost P200 to reach the Poblacion. From the pier, she will have to travel for four hours by boat to Rio Tuba where she has to pay P380, a tricycle ride P25 and another one hour bus ride to reach Brooke's Point.
She also has to leave home at the break of dawn to catch the only boat trip that leaves to Rio Tuba at 6AM. If she can't get back to this port by noon, she will also have to spend the night there and wait for the only one scheduled boat ride to Balabac.
Given this challenging transportation to reach nearest LBP, Aminola still belongs to one of the "nearest" barangays to the Poblacion. Beneficiaries from six other barangays are located in separate islands, Mangsee being the farthest which is four hours away from the Poblacion but only 15 minutes away from Sabah, Malaysia.
This means even higher transportation costs and longer travel, which is particularly harder for some mothers who have to bring their children with them with no one left at home to take care of them.
Balabac may be considered as one of the most geographically hard-to-reach places not just in the region but in the whole country but this is not to say that the four other island provinces of MIMAROPA do not have its share of geographical challenges as well.
More Efficient and Secure
Apart from the beneficiaries spending only minimum amount in transportation, this new option also offers a more secure distribution of cash grants when the GCash Remit Outlet is responsible for security. In the past, Land Bank tellers have to risk their lives travelling for long hours bringing millions of pesos with them.
"Our tellers have to literally hug the money bags close to them even in their sleep" shared Ms. Ma. Belma Torla, Landbank AVP from Batasan Branch during the GRemit pilot evaluation meeting, noting that the offsite cash distribution lasted for more than one day to accommodate the thousands of beneficiaries in one municipality.
The program will also be more protected from political influences as no security, whether through manpower or use of "more secured vehicles", will no longer be needed. Secretary Dinky Soliman herself said that the Department will now implement the program with "less room for outsider influence".
Mr. Vincent Obcena, one of the regional focal persons, who witnessed the pilot GRemit Cash release in Balabac, also noted that the local economy will now benefit as beneficiaries will buy food, school and health supplies from their local markets instead of the town where Landbank is located.
This new option was piloted successfully in Balabac and Taytay, in the province of Palawan last November 5, 2010. Serving almost 3,000 beneficiaries in Balabac, the GCash remit lasted for one week. The GCash Remit release in Taytay, which aims to release cash grants for 7,000 beneficiaries is still on-going. (DSWD-IVB/vsmendoza) [top]
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