Indigenous peoples in Negros Oriental have continuously benefitted from the government’s anti-poverty program, Secretary Corazon Soliman of the Department of Social Welfare and Development said Monday, in Dumaguete City.

Soliman said IPs and similarly situated “lumads”, or natives, are given equal attention under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, or the conditional cash transfer program.

She said 55 families of the Aita tribe and 310 families of the Mangubat-Bukidnon tribe in Mabinay, Negros Oriental, are now beneficiaries of the 4Ps.

A modified 4Ps scheme is planned for next year, and will include the Badjaos, street children, and those living in carts and trisikads as program beneficiaries, she added.

Soliman also said a P300,000 grant from the Department of Education was released so that IP children can enroll in the informal education program, titled Alternative Learning System.

Other interventions for the IP communities are sustainable livelihood and inclusion in the core shelter program of the government. She said nongovernment organizations are targeted as partners in the implementation of the modified CCT.

She urged NGOs in the province to get involved in the government’s program to alleviate poverty in Negros Oriental and other parts of the Philippines.*JFP

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