QuestionsQuestions (Republic Act No. 11291)
The State’s policy is to uplift the standard of living and quality of life of the poor by adopting area-based, sectoral, and focused interventions, ensuring every poor Filipino is empowered to meet minimum basic needs through partnership of government and basic sectors. It also emphasizes compliance with international obligations to end poverty, with priorities including: investments in anti-poverty programs, full access to government services, strengthened long-term strategies, and enhancement of capabilities of basic sectors, NGOs, and other partners.
“Basic Sectors” are disadvantaged sectors of Philippine society, including farmer-peasants, fisherfolk, workers in the formal sector (including migrant workers), workers in the informal sector, indigenous peoples and cultural communities, women, persons with disability, senior citizens, victims of disasters, youth and students, children, urban poor, and members of cooperatives. Any five of these may be cited.
“Poor” refers to individuals or families whose income falls below the poverty threshold as defined by NEDA and/or who cannot, in a sustained manner, afford minimum basic needs (food, health, education, housing, or other essential amenities), as defined under RA 8425. In determining who constitutes the poor, the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) by PSA is considered.
“Progressive Realization” is an implementation approach paced according to the availability of funds and adjusted to the exigencies of the times. It recognizes that full implementation may not be immediate, depending on resources.
The government must establish a system of progressive realization to provide requirements, conditions, and opportunities for the full enjoyment/realization of essential rights of the poor: (a) right to adequate food, (b) right to decent work, (c) right to relevant and quality education, (d) right to adequate housing, and (e) right to the highest attainable standard of health.
DSWD, DA, and implementing agencies must: (1) mitigate/alleviate hunger especially during calamities/disasters; (2) fully implement and maintain supplementary feeding in day care centers and schools; (3) ensure availability, accessibility, and sustainability of food supplies in adequate quantity and quality; and (4) proactively engage the poor in activities promoting food self-sufficiency and strengthening access to resources for food security.
Private contractors/subcontractors for national/local public work projects funded by the national government or LGUs must fill 30% of skilled labor requirements with qualified workers from the poor sector who are residents of the LGUs where the projects are undertaken. If resources are insufficient, requirements are based on the maximum locally available labor resources, certified by the appropriate municipal/city/provincial/district engineer.
DOLE must ensure that the poor have access to information on employment openings in private enterprises and government programs, especially for families displaced by disasters or relocated from hazardous/danger zones. DOLE must also promote an environment for more inclusive tripartism and participatory social dialogue at firm and industry levels.
DepEd, CHED, and TESDA must (1) maintain free public education for kindergarten, elementary, and high school; (2) expand access to free or socialized college education for poor individuals/families, including student loans or “study-now-pay-later” plans in state/local universities and colleges, subject to reasonable academic requirements; and (3) ensure access to quality TVET through scholarships, subsidies, and financial assistance tied to qualification requirements.
HUDCC and implementing agencies must: prioritize socialized housing with appropriate subsidies; immediately construct/provide housing for families in hazardous/danger zones and those urgently needing housing in disaster-affected areas; create an enabling environment to help the poor gain security of tenure with least financial burden; and provide a simple requirements/procedures system with expeditious processing/approval, especially for community-based socialized housing/people’s proposals.
Examples include: maternal and child health care and nutrition; ethical/legal/medically safe and effective reproductive health services and supplies; promotion of breastfeeding; prevention/management of reproductive tract infections/STIs including HIV and AIDS; immunization against major infectious diseases; and prevention, treatment, and control of epidemic and endemic diseases.
All other rights of the poor under existing laws remain fully effective. RA 11291 must not be construed to diminish the enjoyment of such rights; the poor may avail of greater rights offered by existing laws and by RA 11291.
Funding for programs/projects under RA 11291 is sourced from existing appropriations under the General Appropriations Act (GAA) of departments/agencies implementing the act, including specified major programs (e.g., 4Ps, TUPAD, TWSP, GASTPE, STUFAP, NHA socialized housing, basic DOH health care, PhilHealth expanded primary care package, SHFC Community Mortgage Program). Allocations for implementation are given preferential consideration; any additional funds must be included in the GAA.
NAPC, with technical assistance of NEDA, compiles and harmonizes provincial/city/municipal plans into the national plan framework and ensures participation of basic sectors and LGUs in formulation/implementation. DBM reviews the NPRP for inclusion in the budget of implementing agencies.
Within six (6) months from effectivity of RA 11291 and every six (6) months thereafter, all implementing departments/agencies submit compliance reports to NAPC, which then submits a compliance report to the House Committee on Poverty Alleviation and the Senate Committee on Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development.
Implementation is through progressive realization. However, the President and Congress have the prerogative to allocate funds through the GAA. The law expressly provides that it should not be construed to require immediate implementation of all poverty alleviation programs, recognizing that realization is paced by available funds.