By Cai U. Ordinario
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is extending a $400-million loan for the country’s Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) Program.
The Manila-based multilateral development bank is also extending a $1-million technical assistance grant for the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
“The support which builds on ADB’s initial loan to the project of the same amount will help the government support more families, now also including high-school students,” ADB Southeast Asia Department Senior Social Sector Specialist Karin Schelzig said.
“This is important as impact evaluation shows that the CCTs are keeping vulnerable young people at school, opening the door to a better future,” she added.
The ADB’s loan will be provided over a period of four years starting this year until December 2019. The loan will help support the government’s plan to scale up the program to P62.7 billion, or about $1.3 billion, this year.
The technical assistance grant, meanwhile, will help DSWD provide demand-driven policy and advisory services. The agency aims to strengthen program management; assess any proposed program or policy adjustments; and undertake operational spot checks on program implementation.
This is not the first time that the ADB extended financial support to the CCT Program. The ADB has also extended a $400-million loan to the National Support for Social Protection Program, which also supports the CCTs.
Part of the loan was used to strengthen the program’s poverty targeting system and finance a share of the cash grants to 637,000 households in selected areas.
The funds were also used to build capacity among program staff, and support monitoring and impact evaluation.
“The fresh assistance will finance a share of the grants to all participating households nationwide,” the ADB said.
Since the program’s inception, the number of CCT partner-beneficiaries increased from 340,000 to more than 4.4 million at the end of 2015—making it the fourth-largest CCT after programs in India, Brazil and Mexico.
The program has expanded rapidly since it began in 2008 and has evolved over time based on lessons and experience.
Examples of evidence-based program adjustments include, first, increasing the grant amount for older children and expanding the eligibility cutoff from 14 years of age to 18 to raise the rates of high-school graduation of children from poor families.
The CCT Program, known locally as Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, provides grants to poor families if they send their children to school, visit health centers and attend family development sessions.