By
Dominic I. Sanchez
ZAMBOANGA
CITY - To ensure that its big ticket poverty alleviation
programs remain free and untouched by politics particularly in the coming
barangay elections this October, the Department of Social Welfare and
Development is now lining up activities to continue its “Bawal ang Epal Dito” or BAED advocacy campaign.
The
BAED campaign uses posters, tarpaulins, stickers and other materials to
communicate to the beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program and
the general public that only the DSWD has the authority to remove or delist
members from receiving the conditional cash grants. Moreover, the campaign emphasizes
that the programs are implemented with no political intervention especially
from local officials.
BAED
is the department’s response to beneficiaries’ complaints that accordingly, many
of them are pressured to favor certain political parties if they desire to
continue receiving the cash grants from the government. The DSWD has
continuously emphasized that local and barangay officials have no authority to
decide who will or will not receive the cash grants, since this is a national
government program backed by an objective data known as the National Household
Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR).
“In
addition to producing advocacy materials, we shall also be conducting
barangay-based forums on BAED,” said Jayson Elias, DSWD Information Officer for
Pantawid Pamilya. “We want to emphasize to the beneficiaries that it is their
right to receive the cash grants for their health, education and development,
and that nobody, especially local politicians, can take these rights away from
them. Only they themselves can cause their delisting if they don’t comply with their
co-responsibilities.”
“Epal” is a Filipino derogatory slang
that means someone who takes credit for somebody else’s work and
accomplishments. (PIA9)