Masbate’s Poorest Travel to Naga to Get Subsidy

NAGA CITY - - SINCE JULY, throngs of poor rural folks from the island municipality of San Pascual in Masbate, converged by groups at the Rizal Park fronting the Land Bank Building at the middle of this city's old commercial district here, to claim their cash subsidy from government.

Beneficiaries of the government program "Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program" (PPPP) or "4Ps," these residents of Masbate have to travel all the way to Naga City in order to receive their cash subsidy meant to alleviate their plight.

The San Pascual residents said they had to travel from San Pascual to Pasacao, Camarines Sur, the nearest port town, spending P400 for their motorboat fare. From there, they spend another P80 for jeepney fare to reach Naga City.

Barangay captain, Joe Per Corporal, claimed the rural folks are part of some 122 residents of his village, Ki-Buaya, and neighboring villages of Nazareno, Quintina, Malaking-Ilog, and San Rafael, all rural localities of the of San Pascual, Masbate,

Corporal said that previously, beneficiaries were getting the subsidy from a Land Bank Branch in Pasacao, Camarines Sur. Due to the big number of claimants, however, the cash releases were transferred to the main Land Bank branch in this City.

Corporal related that the "4Ps" is primarily a subsidy for depressed families in Masbate with children going to public schools; poor families in his village get P2,500 each from the program, including P300 each for every student in the family.

The village official also said that the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Masbate province made the assessment of the poorest families to be given subsidy under the program.

In a recent Malacañang press statement, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has given directives to increase the current funds of the "4Ps" by another P 5 Billion from an initial P 10 Billion budget to service some 700,000 poorest families, or about 4.5 Million persons nationwide.

Under the "4Ps" program, a poor family gets a government subsidy of P1,400 (P500 for single parent) and P900 for three dependents (children). The subsidy is to be given for five years on a quarterly basis.

According to reports, the program is patterned after the Brazilian Government's "Bolsa-Familia" program that has subsidized some 12- Million Brazilians. (SONNY SALES)