188体育

Extending the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps beyond five years for current beneficiaries is needed to allow the poor to 鈥渙utgrow鈥� the government`s conditional cash transfer (CCT) program. This was emphasized by experts from the state think-tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (188体育) recently. 188体育 Visiting Research Fellow Vicente Paqueo noted that, the 鈥淧antawid鈥� extension will be economically and socially beneficial and will also give the government more time to work out a transition strategy and pursue policy reforms that will lead to a massive expansion of job opportunities for beneficiaries. Paqueo presented five arguments supporting the CCT extension: (1) poverty and income inequality remain high and stable; (2) the Pantawid program has been a credible, effective, and valuable instrument for poverty alleviation in the short run; (3) an extension will be an opportunity to produce greater positive impact on the welfare of the poor; (4) an extension will provide social stability and support to allow the government to undertake reforms; and (5) a significant improvement in high school enrollment and completion is expected with moderate subsidies for cash grants.