THE government aims to strengthen its social insurance services to help poor families reduce expenses and have more funds to spend on food, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

The Neda said that social insurance will be included in the government’s Accelerated Hunger Mitigation Program (AHMP). This was suggested by the National Nutrition Council (NNC) at a recent meeting of the Cabinet-level Social Development Committee (SDC).

“Strengthening the social insurance of the population, particularly the poor, can help families save hard-earned money instead of using these to buy medicines and out-of-pocket health services, basic education and housing. These savings can thus be used to buy food and prevent hunger,” NNC executive director Maria Bernardita Flores said.

The NNC said social insurance can be given in the form of social health insurance, which will include boosting the enrollment of  food-poor families under the PhilHealth’s indigent program, and speeding up the establishment of Botika ng Bayan (BnB) and Botika ng Barangay (BnB) outlets.

Flores said the fusion of the BnBs with the Tindahan Natin Program (TNP) will not only improve the profitability and increase the income of operators, but also make quality and safe medicines affordable for the poor.

“Three fusion schemes shall be adopted, namely, the establishment of new combined BnB and TNP outlets; adding medicines in existing outlets; and tice, noodles and other basic commodities in BnB,” she said.

 Under the AHMP framework, hunger may be due to unavailable or insufficient food and/or the lack of money to buy food. Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Romulo Neri earlier explained that hunger is a multidimensional and complex phenomenon that should be addressed holistically.

 By adopting this framework, the NNC said food production programs have increased, particularly for the Gulayan para sa Masa, coconut intervention programs for disaster-stricken areas, and with fisheries programs achieving more than their targets.

The NNC also said 12 of 20 targeted Barangay Food Terminals (BFTs) have been opened in the National Capital Region reaching 462,310 families within these areas.

The target number of BFTs, the NNC said, rose to 53 with the expansion of the Department of Agriculture’s plan to cover not only Metro Manila but also selected regions (I, III, IV-A, IV-B, VI, VII, VIII, IX, and XI) and ecozones in Pampanga, Cavite and Laguna.

The Food-for-School Program, meanwhile, reached 96.1 percent of its target households for school year 2006-2007 and 93 percent of its target during the summer, the NNC said.

Flores also reported that about 1.7 million clients of microfinance institutions got loans for livelihood activities; and programs like roadside maintenance, construction/rehabilitation of farm-to-market roads and irrigation facilities provided jobs to 720,000 individuals.

She said 487,000 individuals were assisted and trained by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority to improve their employability, with more than 360 persons given employment through the jathropa production for biofuel, and that 435 hectares have been developed/planted on.

The SDC is an interagency committee that advises the President and the Neda Board on matters concerning social development, and recommends appropriate policies, programs and projects consistent with national development objectives.

THE government aims to strengthen its social insurance services to help poor families reduce expenses and have more funds to spend on food, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

THE joint government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) investigating panel said Abu Sayyaf bandits were the ones who beheaded 10 Marines following an ambush encounter in Basilan on July 10, and as such, unofficially cleared the Moro separatist group of wrongdoing, other than violating the cease-fire agreement.

SENATORS are wary about the “silence” of Malacañang over the reported secret deals being worked out between the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) and the Marcoses involving the return of sequestered assets believed part of the alleged ill-gotten wealth illegally amassed by the Marcos family and their cronies during the imposition of martial law.

AN improvised bomb was discovered inside the pink urinal of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) near the main office of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) in Pasig City.

WHAT the government needs is “emergency funding,” not emergency powers for President Arroyo, so it can mitigate the dry spell which has parched farmlands and threatened rice production, Senate President Manuel Villar said on Thursday.

THE World Bank said developing countries, like the Philippines, should encourage the use of reproductive health methods to help reduce the incidence of poverty, poor education and high numbers of maternal and infant deaths. It made the recommendation in its recently published report “Population Issues in the 21st Century: The Role of the World Bank.”

COTABATO CITY—Mindanao residents who were benefitted by a US-assisted project on Thursday called for unity as policemen resumed the hunt for the suspects in the July 10 ambush and killing of 14 Marines in Basilan.