QuestionsQuestions (LETTER OF INSTRUCTION NO. 112)
The policy includes area-based, sectoral, focused poverty alleviation empowering poor families to meet minimum basic needs (health, food/nutrition, water/sanitation, income security, shelter/housing, peace/order, education/literacy, participation in governance, and family care/psycho-social integrity); active pursuit of asset reform; institutionalizing and enhancing the Social Reform Agenda (SRA); adopting principles such as social reform as a continuing process, partnership with basic sectors, accountability/transparency, gender-responsive and ecological approaches, and focusing on specific target areas and basic sectors.
Basic sectors are disadvantaged sectors: farmer-peasant, artisanal fisherfolk, workers in the formal sector and migrant workers, workers in the informal sector, indigenous peoples/cultural communities, women, differently-abled persons, senior citizens, victims of calamities/disasters, youth and students, children, and urban poor.
‘Poor’ refers to individuals and families whose income falls below the poverty threshold (as defined by NEDA) and/or who cannot afford sustained provision of minimum basic needs such as food, health, education, housing, and other essential amenities.
It is a loan arrangement contracted without conventional real estate or chattel mortgage security; instead, alternative arrangements are used to secure repayment. It is relevant because it supports microfinance mechanisms for the poor who may lack traditional collateral.
It is a self-help group of the basic sectors/disadvantaged groups whose members share a common bond of interest, voluntarily unite to achieve a lawful common social or economic end.
They are: (1) Social dimension—equitable access to quality basic services; (2) Economic dimension—asset reform and access to economic opportunities; (3) Ecological dimension—sustainable development of productive resources; and (4) Governance dimension—democratizing decision-making and management processes.
Farmers and landless rural workers: agricultural development and agrarian reform; Fisherfolk: fisheries/aquatic resources conservation and community-based coastal resources management; Indigenous peoples/indigenous communities: respect, protection, and management of ancestral domains; Informal sector workers: workers’ welfare and protection; Urban poor: socialized housing and urban development consistent with Habitat II.
Cross-sectoral flagships are: (a) institution-building and effective participation in governance; (b) livelihood programs; (c) expansion of micro-credit/microfinance services and capability building; and (d) infrastructure buildup and development.
The NAPC is the coordinating and advisory body for SRA implementation under the Office of the President. It replaces and assumes the functions of the Presidential Commission to Fight Poverty (PCFP), the Social Reform Council (SRC), and the Presidential Council for Countryside Development (PCCD), which are abolished; NAPC is their successor-in-interest.
The President is Chairperson. The President appoints a Lead Convenor (government or private sector) as head of the NAPC Secretariat with Cabinet Secretary rank; if unable, the President appoints an Officer-in-Charge. There are two Vice-Chairpersons: one for Government Sector designated by the President; one for Basic Sectors elected among basic sector representatives by simple majority and confirmed by the President. NAPC also includes heads of key government departments/agencies and multiple representatives from basic sectors and NGOs/cooperatives (as enumerated in the article).
Sectoral councils are formed through direct nomination of qualified individuals by organized groups to the Office of the President within a specified period (unless a different process is agreed). A shortlist of 25 names is submitted; then the President appoints 15 members for each of 14 sectoral councils, considering geographical and sectoral concerns.
Sectoral Councils can exact accountability and exercise recall for loss of confidence. Recall is initiated upon majority vote in a special meeting, and a vote of 2/3 of the total members of the Sectoral Council is sufficient to recall the Sectoral Representative.
Sectoral Councils nominate three nominees within six months after effectivity of the IRR and every three years thereafter (and for vacancy). The President appoints the representatives from the submitted list within 30 days; term is three years without reappointment, and appointments for vacancies cover only the unexpired term. NAPC powers/functions include coordinating agencies/NGOs/private sector for program implementation, coordinating with LGUs in local program formulation, recommending policy measures, ensuring meaningful basic sector participation, overseeing/monitoring/recommending improvements in implementation and evaluation, advocating fund mobilization, providing incentives to LGUs with counterpart resources, and submitting annual reports to Congress.
PDTF is a trust fund monitored by NAPC with an initial amount of ₱4.5 billion funded from PAGCOR earnings plus congressional appropriations, voluntary contributions, and grants. The designated government department/agency administers the utilization of the earnings; NAPC is limited to monitoring. Only the fruits/earnings are used for specified purposes (microfinance capability building, training/scholarships, community organizing, feasibility studies, savings/incentives, information systems, legal/management support like auditing/documentation, dissemination of microfinance technology, and other approved support).
Access is for (a) registered microfinance organizations engaged in providing micro-enterprise programs to their constituents, with a limitation that PDTF shall not be used by LGUs for personal services/maintenance/other operating expenses; and (b) LGUs undertaking self-help projects where at least 25% of total PDTF earnings is used exclusively for materials and technical services.
PCFC is the vehicle for delivery of microfinance services for the exclusive use of the poor. As a government-owned and controlled corporation, it is the lead entity tasked to mobilize financial resources from local and international funding sources for microfinance services exclusively for the poor.
GFIs such as Land Bank, Philippine Postal Bank, Al Amanah Bank, and Development Bank of the Philippines must coordinate with NAPC and PCFC to set up special credit windows and other arrangements (including servicing Small Savers Instruments) to promote the microfinance program; these windows should include allocations for basic sectors living in rural areas, agrarian reform communities, and women in the countryside, as practicable.