Malacañang directed all government agencies to support and actively participate in the efforts to reduce poverty incidence in the country.
In Memorandum Circular 59, signed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea on Wednesday and issued to the media on Friday, Malacañang ordered a “whole-of-government” approach in supporting the National Anti-Poverty Commission's (NAPC) Sambayanihan: Serbisyong Sambayanan program.
“To ensure a ‘whole-of-government’ approach to poverty alleviation and the widest deployment of basic social services to our poorest communities, all government agencies and instrumentalities, including government-owned or -controlled corporations, are hereby directed to support, participate and provide the necessary assistance, consistent with their respective mandates, to the NAPC in the implementation of the Sambayanihan,” the circular reads.
The Sambayanihan program intends to deliver President Rodrigo Duterte's directive to reduce poverty incidence in the country to 7.6 percent by 2022.
Part of the NAPC's efforts was the launch of the Sambayanihan Caravan in September 2018, where government agencies will deliver frontline support and basic social services directly to the poorest communities in the country.
“Its Caravan and other component programs seek to provide a venue for inter-agency collaboration at the provincial and municipal levels to address the root causes of poverty,” the circular added.
The newly-signed Memorandum Circular also cited Republic Act 8425, or the “Social Reform and Poverty Alleviation Act”, highlighting the government's policy to meet the basic needs of Filipinos, such as health, food and nutrition, water, shelter and decent housing, among others. (EJ Roque/PNA)
