The poorest of the Filipino poor can now expect conditional cash transfers and better healthcare, education and employment services as President Arroyo has ordered all government agencies, including government-owned and controlled corporations, to focus the full force of the Arroyo administration's anti-poverty programs on the poorest one million families in the country, the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) announced recently.

NAPC Secretary Domingo F. Panganiban said the new policy, which forms part of the government's new social protection program framework, is expected to introduce significant improvements to the health, welfare and livelihood of the country's poorest folk even as it enhances the efficiency of public spending.

"Whereas we had previously concentrated our efforts on impoverished areas, this new presidential directive allows us the mandate to focus on specific households. We are confident that this strategy will yield more immediate results," Panganiban said.

The NAPC chief said the government has already identified the country's poorest one million households through the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) Program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

Panganiban said the beneficiaries of the President's special directive will receive conditional cash transfers for education, nutrition and healthcare under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) of the DSWD. These same families will be accorded priority access to state-sponsored scholarships, loans, training programs, and housing services.

"The next step is to ensure proper coordination among national agencies and their regional offices as these one million families are scattered across 664 municipalities and 58 cities in 80 provinces," Panganiban said.

He said the President's directive does not preclude impoverished families that are not in the NHTS-PR list from the government's various anti-poverty programs. "The President simply wants to ensure a greater level of precision and coherence in the national government's anti-poverty efforts," he added.