Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian on Friday emphasized that sustained investments in human capital development are crucial in breaking the intergenerational cycle of poverty, amid the rise in self-rated poverty among Filipino families based on the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.
The SWS survey showed self-rated poverty increased to 55 percent in September from 49 percent in June.
“You can’t end poverty overnight, but we will continue to do it by investing in human capital,” the DSWD chief said in a televised interview.
Gatchalian acknowledged that the 3rd Quarter SWS survey result will serve as an important input in assessing the challenges faced by Filipino households and strengthening the government’s social protection interventions.
“Well, sa SWS, I believe ang tinitingnan nila experiential. Ibig sabihin tatanungin ka kung ano ang naranasan mo, tanggap namin na marami pa kaming trabahong gagawin. Hindi kami titigil, that data gives us a very good input na kailangan pa namin magpursige (at SWS, I believe what they look at is experiential. This means you will be asked about what you actually experienced, and we accept that we still have a lot of work to do. We will not stop. Those data give us very good input that we need to persevere even more),” Gatchalian said.
One of the programs cited by the DSWD chief that invests in human capital development is the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), which supports the health and education of children from poor families.
“Namumuhunan tayo sa kabataang Pilipino sa pamamagitan ng early childhood education at health grants ng 4Ps. Kami naniniwala kami na, nakatutok tayo sa tamang direksyon pero kailangan lang tuloy-tuloy nating gawin iyon (We are investing in the Filipino youth through early childhood education and 4Ps health grants. We believe that we are headed in the right direction, but we just need to sustain and keep moving forward with these efforts),” Gatchalian explained.
Since 2022, the 4Ps has helped 1.6 million families graduate from the program.
The DSWD chief also cited a recent World Bank assessment indicating that the program has contributed to a 2.2 percentage-point reduction in poverty.
“Maraming tao kasi ang iniisip yung 4Ps agad-agad makikita natin ‘yung resulta. Pero marami pa kaming kailangang trabahuhin, marami pa kaming kailangan tulungan. Right now, may 3.5 families pa na nasa loob ng 4Ps program na kailangan tulungan para ma-i-angat sa kahirapan (Many people think that with 4Ps, we will see results immediately. But we still have a lot of work to do and many more people to help. Right now, there are still 3.5 million families within the 4Ps program that we need to assist in order to lift them out of poverty),” Gatchalian noted.
“Maaaring naka-graduate ka nga sa kahirapan gamit ang threshold ng income pero dahil sa isang pangyayari, isang shock katulad ng nanagyayari na pagtaas ng presyo ng bilihin o ‘yung natamaan kayo ng disaster, maaari rin biglang bumagsak sya kasi nakaungos ka nga sa kahirapan, pero malaking chunk ng ating populasyon naka-tungtong lang. So iyon ang hamon sa amin, hindi natin pwedeng isang tabi ‘yung resulta ng SWS, tinatanggap natin iyon at [magsisilbing] gabay iyon sa aming mga susunod na hakbang (You may have technically graduated from poverty based on the income threshold, but due to certain events — a shock like the rising prices of goods or being hit by a disaster — you can suddenly fall right back down. Even if people have managed to rise above poverty, a huge chunk of our population is barely standing just right above the line. So that is our challenge; we cannot just brush aside the results of the SWS survey. We accept them, and they will serve as a guide for our next steps),” he said. (PNA)
