IN a nationwide daily newspaper, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Erwin Tulfo said that the
Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) is effective but it needs to be “fine-tuned.”
He was of course referring to the country’s anti-poverty program providing cash assistance to poor Filipino families. I think when he said that the program needs “fine-tuning,” he meant that changes need to be inserted because many beneficiaries abuse the cash grant by using it for gambling or other types of expenses that do not directly benefit the family.
Alleviation of poverty?
As a poverty alleviation method, the program rates high in instant gratification, however, it raises serious questions about impact and sustainability. For the government to regularly hand out cash to hundreds of thousands of Filipino families, a massive reservoir of resources must be infused to sustain the flow of assistance. Does our government have this “massive reservoir”?
I have said this before and I will say it again – “dole-outs” develop a mentality of dependence in people. It deceives the poor into thinking that they have this “privilege,” they have this “prerogative,” and that they are “entitled” always to government assistance. The end result is that they will no longer depend on their own effort, which is essential for them to better their status in life.
It would be better if we can allocate public funds to enhancing social services and programs and to build up people’s self-reliance, for instance, through education, entrepreneurship, and micro-finance.
When the dole-outs are gone, people will again wait for another dole-out.
Experts say that the money given will ramp up the consumption of goods and services, therefore, propelling the entire economy. Leftist politicians and left-leaning groups will say that wealth distribution is a method of promoting social justice, while Catholics and other Christian denominations preach that the virtue of generosity is manifested in wealth distribution.
But I don’t agree. Considering how inefficient and the ineffective doling-out system is, it is actually a waste of taxpayers’ money.
A dole-out is a mere band-aid solution that is never meant to last. Distributing wealth does not generate wealth and, instead, diminishes its intrinsic value.
In her book entitled Statecraft, British stateswoman Margaret Thatcher identified five important factors that can make capitalism function well. These are private ownership, the culture of entrepreneurship, rule of law, competition, and limited government intervention. All of these factors can also be found in Friedrich Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom, which denounced socialism and collectivism.
As a consumption-based economy, we have the potential to make capitalism work. It is therefore imperative for our policymakers to adhere to these five stipulations. The direct beneficiaries of this approach would be all of the citizens, who are both consumers and producers of goods and services in the free market.
Many of us Filipinos may be poor, but we are not beggars. Let us not keep on giving people fish. Let us truly start teaching people how to fish.
