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Also, the matters contained in the following were written in accordance with the law, rules, and jurisprudence prevailing at the time of writing and posting, and do not include any future developments on the subject matter under discussion.
AT A GLANCE:
The National Anti-Poverty Commission was created to serve as the coordinating and advisory body for the implementation of the SRA. The Presidential Commission to Fight Poverty (PCFP), the Social Reform Council (SRC), and the Presidential Council for Countryside Development (PCCD) are hereby abolished and the NAPC shall exercise the powers and functions of these agencies. The NAPC shall be the successor-in-interest of the three (3) abolished commissions and councils.
It is the policy of the State to:
- Adopt an area-based, sectoral and focused intervention to poverty alleviation wherein every poor Filipino family shall be empowered to meet its minimum basic needs of health, food and nutrition, water and environmental sanitation, income security, shelter and decent housing, peace and order, education and functional literacy, participation in governance, and family care and psycho-social integrity;
- Actively pursue asset reform or redistribution of productive economic resources to the basic sectors including the adoption of a system of public spending which is targeted towards the poor;
- Institutionalize and enhance the Social Reform Agenda, hereinafter known as the SRA, which embodies the results of the series of consultations and summits on poverty alleviation;
- Adopt and operationalize the following principles and strategies as constituting the national framework integrating various structural reforms and anti-poverty initiatives:
(a) Social reform shall be a continuing process that addresses the basic inequities in Philippine society through a systematic package of social interventions;
(b) The SRA shall be enhanced by government in equal partnership with the different basic sectors through appropriate and meaningful consultations and participation in governance;
(c) Policy, programs and resource commitments from both government and the basic sectors shall be clearly defined to ensure accountability and transparency in the implementation of the Social Reform Agenda;
(d) A policy environment conducive to sustainable social reform shall be pursued;
(e) The SRA shall address the fight against poverty through a multi-dimensional and cross-sectoral approach which recognizes and respects the core values, cultural integrity, and spiritual diversity of target sectors and communities;
(f) The SRA shall pursue a gender-responsive approach to fight poverty;
(g) The SRA shall promote ecological balance in the different ecosystems, in a way that gives the basic sectors a major stake in the use, management, conservation and protection of productive resources;
(h) The SRA shall take into account the principle and interrelationship of population and development in the planning and implementation of social reform programs thereby promoting self-help and self-reliance; and
(i) The SRA implementation shall be focused on specific target areas and basic sectors.
Thus, to support the above-stated policy, the National Anti-Poverty Commission, hereinafter referred to as the NAPC, is hereby created under the Office of the President, which shall serve as the coordinating and advisory body for the implementation of the SRA. The Presidential Commission to Fight Poverty (PCFP), the Social Reform Council (SRC), and the Presidential Council for Countryside Development (PCCD) are hereby abolished and the NAPC shall exercise the powers and functions of these agencies. The NAPC shall be the successor-in-interest of the three (3) abolished commissions and councils.
The creation and operationalization of the NAPC shall be guided by the following principles:
(1) Incorporation of the Social Reform Agenda into the formulation of development plans at the national, regional, sub-regional and local levels;
(2) Efficiency in the implementation of the anti-poverty programs by strengthening and/or streamlining present poverty alleviation processes and mechanisms, and reducing the duplication of functions and activities among various government agencies;
(3) Coordination and synchronization of social reform and poverty alleviation programs of national government agencies;
(4) Exercise of policy oversight responsibilities to ensure the attainment of social reform and poverty alleviation goals;
(5) Strengthening of local government units to more effectively operationalize the SRA in local development efforts;
(6) Institutionalization of basic sectoral and NGO participation in effective planning, decision-making, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the SRA at all levels;
(7) Ensuring adequate, efficient and prompt delivery of basic services to the poor; and
(8) Enjoining government financial institutions to open credit and savings windows for the poor, and advocating the creation of such windows for the poor among private banking institutions.
(Section 2 and 5, Republic Act No. 8425)
Read also: Sustainable Development Goals in the Philippines
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