JULY 1, 2016

NR # 4248

Solon to push for the passage of Magna Carta of the Poor

A veteran lawmaker has vowed to pursue the passage in the 17 th Congress of a bill that
seeks to uplift the lives of the impoverished through employment, feeding programs and
education.
Re-elected congressman Raul V. Del Mar (1 st District, Cebu City) said he is determined to
set the green light for the approval of the bill, which was vetoed by President Benigno Aquino III
two years ago for lack of funds.
In essence, social justice in a democracy is caring for the poor, a continuing and sincere
concern for the underprivileged, a genuine and serious effort to improve their quality of life. It
must be recalled that the Magna Carta of the Poor was approved by the House and the Senate in
the last Congress, but was vetoed by the President on ground of substantial infirmities, Del Mar
said.
Del Mar said there were largely questions of funding and implementation which are now
sought to be clarified or otherwise addressed by this bill, foremost, is emphasizing a system of
progressive realization for purposes of implementation.
While there may be existing laws touching on the need of the poor, the jobless, the
homeless and the landless as part of an overall national strategy to alleviate poverty, this
proposed legislation puts in sharp focus by stating in unequivocal terms what is felt to be the
basic irreducible rights of the poor as essential requirements towards poverty alleviation, rights
without which it is pointless to talk about poverty reduction. These rights are: the right to
employment, the right to free healthcare and medicine the minimum standards of decency,
Del Mar said.
According to Del Mar, more than a bill of rights of the poor, the measure declares that the
government must now take the side of the poor because the issue of poverty has become a critical
question of survival.
The bill also states that government intervention, given the present situation, is the only
realistic route to take to uplift the poor while long term measures, strategies and solutions for
poverty reduction are being put in place.
Finally, the bill provides that government must invest heavily in anti-poverty programs for
the economic empowerment of the poor.
The bill recognizes that, under the present economic environment, the top priority should
be the creation of jobs or creation of employment opportunities.
Del Mar said the lack of employment appears to be the core of the problem of poverty.
Jobs mean income and income translates into access to food, shelter, land, education and
healthcare services, according to him.

He said the government must implement a system of subsidy to help the poor in their food
and housing requirements, and a system of free quality education and free health services and
medicine.
Moreover, Del Mar noted that the value of education not mere education but free quality
educations even at the college level is envisioned in poverty alleviation cannot be denied.
The government must treat this concept of free quality education as a national
investment, equipping the citizenry with tools for the future, for a better future, Del Mar said.
Del Mar said to make democracy work, the government must firstly work for the poor, the
greater majority of the people.
We can only have strong democratic institutions when such greater majority of the people
is given the opportunities to participate in the benefits, growth and development of a democratic
society. Only when the poor are economically empowered will they be able to participate in the
democratic process of setting national goals that affect their daily lives, Del Mar said.
The proposed Magna Carta of the Poor defines poor as individuals or families whose
income falls below the poverty threshold as defined by the National Economic and Development
Authority (NEDA) and/or cannot afford in a sustained manner to provide their minimum basic
needs of food, health, education, housing or other essential amenities of life.
It provides for the five fundamental rights of the poor the right to food, the right to
employment and livelihood, the right to relevant and quality education, the right to shelter, and
the right to basic health services and medicines.
Under the provision for the right to food, the Department of Social Welfare and
Development (DSWD) will expand a program of subsidy to help the poor meet their minimum
food necessities. Food items and food products seized and forfeited with finality in favor of the
government. The Department of Agriculture and local government units shall develop plans and
projects to complement existing food subsidy programs of the government.
As for the right to employment and livelihood, the Department of Labor and Employment
will ensure that the poor have access to employment openings. Thirty percent of the skilled labor
requirements of private contractors and subcontractors doing national and local public works
projects funded by the national or local government must be filled by qualified workers who
come from the poor sector.
The Department of Education, Commission on Higher Education and the Technical
Education and Skills Development Authority will ensure access of the poor to quality and
relevant education, including technical-vocational education to ensure the right to relevant and
quality education.
To promote the poors right to shelter, the government, through the Housing and Urban
Development Coordinating Council and the National Housing Authority, will prioritize the
implementation of socialized housing program.
The Department of Health, on the other hand, will provide highly specialized level of

health care and technical assistance to local government units and development partners in
providing health care to the poor to promote their right to basic health services and medicines.
All government agencies shall formulate, within one hundred (100) days from the issuance
of the rules and regulations to implement this Act, a comprehensive and convergent plan to set
the thresholds to be achieved by the government for each of the recognized rights of the poor.
The National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC), with the technical assistance of the
NEDA, shall be tasked to compile and harmonize these plans.
The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) shall likewise review the NPRP for
inclusion in the budget of implementing agencies. (30) lvc