President Aquino announced that the government is expanding the coverage of the Conditional Cash-Transfer (CCT) Program to include children aged up to 18 years old starting 2014. In his State of the Nation Address (Sona), Mr. Aquino said the expansion of the CCT was the recommendation of a study recently released by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS). The study titled “Strengthening Social Protection in the Philippines” authored by PIDS Senior Fellow Celia Reyes stated that wages received by high school graduates are 40 percent higher compared to those who only graduated from elementary and joined the labor force. “Isn’t it justifiable that we extend more help to families to include their children in high school,” Mr. Aquino said in Pilipino. “Beginning next year, we will expand the coverage of the program to include families with 18-year-old children. The goal is to assist the children finish high school,” he added. Under the CCT program, a poor family with five children aged zero to 14 can receive up to P1,400 per month. This includes a monthly stipend of P500 for health expenses and P300 for education expenses each of a maximum of three children. To date, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has extended the coverage of the program to 3.9 million households. This is only 1.3 millon short of the government’s 5.2 million household target by 2016.
