The idea of 4Ps or Pantawid Pamilya Pilipino Program (Bridging the Filipino Family Program) as an economic enabler is only good in theory. One of the reasons why the program is really a failure because of the following things you may consider to why the program is questionable at best:
- 4Ps is just a conditional cash transfer program in name only. How often is it that recipients of 4Ps get their money even without fulfilling said conditions such as attending the necessary seminars, getting check-up and making sure that the children are still in school as long as needed? As long as you've got a friend of a checker -- you can get your cash with or without fulfilling one's conditions.
- How can you be sure that for the PHP 3,000.00 received that recipients would spend PHP 2,500.00 on local goods and PHP 500 on imported goods? This makes you wonder did the bills released have microchips in them that would tell economists where the money is spent? Where drones assigned to all recipients to make sure that the money was spent to where it went?
- Also, for the claim of that it will return 3x to the government with 5.88 multiplier effect -- just where is the return? It doesn't mean that the poor people will spend that the country will be prosperous. They may be spending it on nonsense and it becomes a beggar program.
- But even if 4Ps is strictly implemented where families that fail to fulfill the given conditions get revoked or suspended from said program -- it's a livelihood program and not a job creation program. A livelihood program teaches people how to work (such as not getting handouts for failure to comply with conditions) but it doesn't necessarily provide work. Sure, it's an investment to teach people how to work but again how will it help if there's no jobs for them when the recipient doesn't have work to have?
Also, there's the questionable claim claim that foreign investors won't arrive in the Philippines if there's not enough spending so 4Ps is needed. Do foreign investors always go to a certain country to sell? Not always since some foreign investors would like to use foreign labor by hiring people in their home countries. They may not necessarily sell but they would be using the Philippines as a manufacturing hub then they sell their products to the locals. They may also be providing products and services to the local businessmen and not to a general population. If there's not enough jobs then how can there be enough spending? Foreign investors also provide jobs just as much as the local investors.
So you want more returns to the government? It's all about making sure that there's businesses to generate jobs. If there's one thing that's true -- it's businesses that create jobs and not conditional cash transfer programs. Even if 4Ps is operating as a livelihood program -- it's useless if the people who benefited from it wouldn't have jobs after their membership is over. The children turn 18 and they have to find their own job. There's local businessmen but too many Filipinos requiring jobs. That's why foreign investors must be invited to compete with Filipino businessmen because it's all about a competitive economy -- something 4Ps can't create even if it's implemented correctly as a livelihood training program.
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