BY GERARD CARITAS
CARITAS Manila, the Manila Archdiocese's
social action arm, yesterday criticized government's Ahon
Pamilyang Pilipino poverty reduction program which it said would
only teach the poor to become dependent on government doles.
"The idea to give pure dole-out money will
give the poor no dignity, breed a culture of dependency and
anti-development to our poor countrymen. Thus, it will not
effectively eradicate poverty," said Fr. Anton Pascual, Caritas
executive director.
The program, with a P5 billion allocation for
this year, involves a subsidy of P500 million a month for
300,000 families identified by the social welfare department in
the 20 poorest provinces, and P300 for each child sent to
school, with a maximum three children per family.
