Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

3.0 JUN 2016 _
‘ i hg

parcisTATION UNE

§ ND INDEX SERV

Seventeenth Congress
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 202

Introduced by Honorable Rodante D. Marcoleta

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This bill seeks to strengthen the existing pro-poor programs of the
government to reduce the number of extremely poor Filipinos through the

enactment of a “Magna Carta of the Poor.”

It is the declared policy of the State to uplift the standard of living and
quality of life of the poor and provide them with sustained opportunities for
growth and development. Every poor Filipino family must be empowered to

meet their minimum basic needs, through the partnership of the government

and basic sectors.

The issue of poverty has now become a critical question of survival in
the country. Given the present situation, government intervention is the only
realistic route to take in order to uplift the plight of the poor while long term

measures, strategies and solutions for poverty reduction are being put in


place. The government must invest heavily in anti-poverty programs for the

economic empowerment of the poor.

This proposed bill aims to give the poor preferential access to
employment opening in private enterprises as well as in government
programs and projects; give them food or food assistance or subsidy for their
survival; provide them access to quality education at the college levels;

provide decent housing facilities, and provide a system of free delivery of

health services and medicines.

It is worthy to note that 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.

In view of the foregoing, approval of this bill is highly and earnestly

recommended.



Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
Quezon City, Metro Manila

Seventeenth Congress
First Regular Session

. 200
HOUSE BILL NO. _“**

Introduced by Honorable Rodante D. Marcoleta
AN ACT
PROVIDING FOR A MAGNA CARTA OF THE POOR

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines
in Congress assembled

SECTION 1. Short Title. — This Act shall be known as the “Magna
Carta Of The Poor.”

SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. — \t is the declared policy of the State
to uplift the standard of living and quality of life of the poor and provide
them with adequate social services and employment. It shall adopt an area- _
based, sectoral, and focused intervention to poverty alleviation where every
poor Filipino family must be empowered to meet their minimum basic
needs, through the partnership of the government and the basic sectors. It is

likewise vital that the State complies with its international obligations to


eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; achieve universal primary education;
reduce child mortality; improve maternal health; combat Human
Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
(HIV/AIDS), malaria and other diseases.

To attain the foregoing policy:

a) The government shall prioritize investments in anti-poverty
programs to enable the poor to fully participate in the country’s growth and
development;

b) All. departments, agencies and instrumentalities of the
government shall provide full access of its services to the poor;

c) The government shall strengthen interventions to address the
genuine concerns of the poor and shall institutionalize long-term strategies
and solutions for the empowerment of the poor; and

d) Government strategies shall enhance and promote the
capabilities and competencies of the basic sectors, the non-government
organizations (NGOs) and people’s organization (POs), as development
partners of the government for the effective delivery and implementation of

a wide range of anti- poverty programs and basic services.


SEC. 3. Definition of Terms. — As used in this Act

(a) Basic sectors refer to the disadvantaged sectors of Philippine
society including farmer-peasants, artisanal 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 calamities/ natural and human-induced disasters, youth
and students, children, the urban poor and members of cooperative;

(b) Development partners refer to NGOs, POs and_ private
corporations which are engaged in programs and activities aimed at
alleviating the condition of the poor;

(c) Hazardous danger zones refer to areas which, when occupied for
residential or business purposes, pose a danger to the life and safety of the
occupants or of the general public;

(d) Nongovernment organizations (NGOs) refer to duly registered
nonstock, nonprofit organizations focusing on the upliftment of the basic
sectors of society by providing advocacy, training, community organizing,
research, access to resources, protection of the environment and

conservation of natural resources and other similar activities;


(e) People’s organizations (POs) refer to self-help groups belonging
to the basic sectors composed of members having a common bond of interest
who voluntarily join together to achieve a lawful common social or
economic end;

(f) Poor refers to individuals or families whose income falls below the
poverty threshold as defined by the National Economic and Development
Authority (NEDA) and/or who cannot afford in a sustained manner to
provide their minimum basic needs of food, health, education, housing, or
other essential amenities of life, and

(g) National Poverty Reduction Plan refers to the aggregation and
consolidation of sectoral and local plans through a bottom-up approach,
from the Local Poverty Reduction Plan towards the formulation of the

national plan.

SEC. 4. Scope of the Fundamental Rights of the Poor. ~ The
government shall establish a system of progressive realization or capacity
implementation to provide the requirements, conditions and opportunities for
the full enjoyment of the following rights of the poor which are essential

requirement towards poverty alleviation:


(a) The Right to Adequate Food is the right of individuals or
families to have physical and economic access to adequate and healthy food,
or the means to procure it. The Department of Social Welfare and
Development (DSWD), the Department of Agriculture (DA), and other
implementing agencies concerned shall

(1) Undertake necessary actions to mitigate and alleviate hunger
especially in times of calamities/natural and human-induced
disasters;

(2)Fully implement and maintain supplementary feeding programs
in day care centers and schools;

(3) Ensure the availability, accessibility and sustainability of food
supplies in quantity and quality sufficient to meet the dietary
needs of poor individuals and families; and

(4) Proactively engage the poor in activities intended to promote
their food self-sufficiency and strengthen their access to

resources and means to ensure food security.

(b) The Right to Decent Work is the right to the opportunity to

obtain decent and productive employment in conditions of freedom, equity,


security and human dignity. The Department of Labor and Employment
(DOLE) and other implementing agencies concerned shall:

(1) Ensure that the poor shall have access to information regarding
employment openings in private enterprises and in government
programs and projects especially regarding available emergency
employment opportunities for families displaced by
calamities/natural and human-induced disasters or relocated
from hazardous/danger zones;

(2) Ensure the compliance of private contractors and
subcontractors doing national and local public work projects,
funded by either the national government or any local
government unit (LGU), to fill in thirty percent (30%) of the
skilled labor requirements by qualified workers who come from
the poor sector and who are residents of the LGUs where these
projects are undertaken: Provided, That where the number of
available resources is less than the required percentage provided
therein, said requirements shall be based on the maximum
number of locally available labor resources and shall be

certified by the municipal city, provincial or district engineer as


sufficient compliance with the labor requirements under this
Act;

(3) Promote livelihood among the poor. These implementing
agencies shall provide technical and administrative support to
help the poor establish their livelihood enterprise using loans
obtained from them;

(4)Ensure compliance with core labor standards, address the job
and skills mismatch, and enhance human capital through
education and training; and

(5) Provide an environment for more inclusive tripartism to achieve
more broad- based representation of interests and make
decision-making highly participatory through social dialogue at

the firm and industry levels.

(c) The Right to Relevant and Quality Education is the right to
attain the full development of the human person.

The Department of Education (DepED), the Commission on Higher
Education (CHED) and the Technical Education and Skills Development

Authority (TESDA), in coordination with development partners concerned

shall:


(1) Maintain a system of free public education in the kindergarten,
elementary and high school levels;

(2) Make higher education accessible to all poor individuals and
families. They shall expand the programs of providing socialized
college education to the poor, including student loans or study-
now-pay-later plans, in  state/local universities and colleges:
Provided, That the students qualify and maintain good academic
standing; and

(3) Ensure access to quality technical/vocational education and
training through scholarships, subsidies and financial assistance to
ensure access to decent and productive employment subject to

compliance to qualification requirements and availability of funds.

(d) The Right to Adequate Housing is the right to have a decent,
affordable, safe and culturally appropriate place to live in, with dignity,
security of tenure, in peace, with access to basic services, facilities, and
livelihood.

The Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council

(HUDCC) and other implementing agencies concerned shall:


(1) Prioritize the implementation of the socialized housing program
with identified appropriate subsidies;

(2) Immediately construct and provide housing facilities for families
living in identified hazardous/danger zones where the housing
needs of the poor are urgent;

(3) Create an enabling environment that will assist the poor gain
access to security of tenure with the least financial burden; and

(4) Provide a system consisting of simple requirements and
procedures, and expeditious processing and approval especially for

community-based socialized housing/ people’s proposals

(c) The Right to the Highest Attainable Standard of Physical and
Mental Health is the right to have equitable access to a variety of facilities,
goods, services and conditions necessary for the realization of the highest
attainable standard of health. The Department of Health (DOH) and other
implementing agencies concerned shall:

(1) Ensure equitable access to a system of food quality health care.
and protection that is also available, accessible, and acceptable

to the poor;


(2) Provide for comprehensive, universal, culture-sensitive, and
gender-responsible health services and programs which include:
(i) maternal and child health care and nutrition; (ii) access to
ethical, legal, medically safe and effective reproductive health
services and supplies; (iii) promotion of breastfeeding; (iv)
prevention and management of reproductive tract infections,
sexually transmitted diseases, HIV and AIDS; (v) provision of
immunization against major infectious diseases occurring in the
community; and (vi) prevention, treatment and control of
epidemic and endemic diseases;

(3) Reduce the financial burden of health care and protection of
the poor through socialized health insurance program with the
end view of totally eliminating out-of-pocket expenses; and

(4) Provide health-related education and information to the

community.

SEC. 5. Non-Diminution of the Rights of the Poor. — All other rights ~
of the poor provided under existing laws shall remain in full force and effect.
Nothing herein shall be construed in a manner that will diminish the

enjoyment of such rights by the poor who shall have the right to avail of


greater rights offered by existing laws, including those granted under this
Act

SEC. 6. Social Protection. — The government shall build an effective
social protection system to ensure the protection of the poor from any risk or
contingency. The system shall include social insurance, safety nets, social
welfare, and labor market interventions which are affordable and accessible.
This social protection shall likewise be afforded in and during bilateral and
multilateral negotiations, including arrangements to be entered into with
international financial institutions.

SEC. 7. System for Targeting of Beneficiaries. - The NEDA shall
design and establish a single system of classification to be used for targeting
beneficiaries of the government’s poverty alleviation programs and projects

to ensure that such programs reach the intended beneficiaries.

8. The National Poverty Reduction Plan (NPRP) and
Enhanced Coordination and Convergence among Government Agencies. —
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. This plan shall

consider all sectoral and local poverty reduction plans of each barangay,


municipality/city and province. The National Anti- Poverty Commission
(NAPC), with the technical assistance of 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

SEC. 9. Participation of the Basic Sectors and of the Local
Government Units (LGUs). — The NAPC shall ensure that the basic sectors
and the LGUs are engaged in the formulation and in the implementation of
the NPRP. The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG)
shall monitor the compliance of the LGUs in aligning their respective
development, investment, and poverty reduction plans with the NPRP, and.
in implementing the same

SEC. 10. Funding Requirements. — The funding for the poverty
alleviation programs and projects implemented under this Act shall be
sourced from the existing appropriations as authorized under the General
Appropriations Act of the different departments and agencies implementing
these programs below:

a) DSWD- Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) and

Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP);


b) — DOLE- Special Program for Employment of Students (SPES)
and Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged Workers“ TUPAD”
Project:

c) TESDA- Skills Training, Private Education Student Financial
Assistance (PESFA) and the Training for Work Scholarship Program
(TWSP);

d) — DepED- Alternative Learning System (ALS) and Government
Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (GASTPE);

e) CHED- Student Financial Assistance Program (STUFAP);

f) — NHA- Socialized housing program;

g) DOH- Basic health care services including potable water
system; and

h)  PhilHealth- Expanded Primary Care Package for the Poor.

Allocations for the implementation of these programs and projects
shall be given preferential consideration in the funding allocation of the
department/agency budget.

Any additional funds to the existing appropriations of the pro-poor
programs in the different departments and agencies shall be included in the
General Appropriations Act of the year following its enactment into law and

thereafter,


SEC. 11. Private Sector Participation — The private sector is highly
encouraged to be an active partner in the financing and implementation of
poverty alleviation programs and projects. The government agencies
implementing these programs shall be authorized to accredit development
partners, who may accept donations, aids or grants, in cash or in kind, from
duly accredited sources, to meet the demands of and uphold the basic rights
of the poor to adequate food, decent work, relevant and quality education,
adequate housing, and the highest attainable standard of mental and physical
health. Acceptance and use of such donations, aids or grants, shall be
transparent and subject to government applicable regulations.

The government shall recognize top performing development partners.

SEC. 12. Tax Exemptions. — Any donation, contribution and grant
which may be made to the sponsored program shall be exempt from the
donor’s tax and shall be considered as allowable deduction from the gross
income in the computation of the income tax of the donor in accordance with
the provisions of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, as amended.

The implementers of the socialized housing resettlement program
shall enjoy the incentives stated in Section 20 of Republic Act. No. 7279,

otherwise known as the “Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992”


SEC. 13. Rational Allocation of Funds. — The DBM shall be
principally responsible for the efficient and rational allocation of available
funds to the different government departments and agencies to support the
implementation of this Act

SEC. 14. Implementation Through a System of Progressive
Realization. — Nothing in this Act shall be construed in any manner as
requiring the government to undertake the immediate implementation of all
poverty alleviation programs. The government shall set programmed targets

to be achieved over time depending upon the availability of necessary

resources and in consideration of economic resource constraints.

SI 15, Compliance Report. — The NAPC shall be tasked to oversee
and monitor compliance with this Act. Within six (6) months from the
effectivity of this Act and every six (6) months thereafter, all implementing
departments and agencies shall submit a report to the NAPC on their
respective compliance with the provision of this Act which, in turn, shall
submit a compliance report to the House Committee on Poverty Alleviation
and to the Senate Committee on Social Justice, Welfare and Rural
Development.

SEC. 16. Implementing Rules and Regulations. — Within six (6)

months from the effectivity of this Act, the NAPC shall, in coordination with


the government departments and agencies, with the participation of the
LGUs and the basic sectors, promulgate rules and regulations to carry out
the provisions of this Act.

SEC. 17. Separability Clause. — If, for any reason, any section or
provision of this Act is declared unconstitutional or invalid, the other
sections or provisions which are not affected shall continue to be in full
force and effect.

S|

3C, 18. Repealing Clause. — All laws, decrees, executive orders,
proclamations, rules and regulations or parts thereof inconsistent herewith
are repealed, amended, or modified accordingly.

SEC. 19. Effectivity. — This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days
after its publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general
circulation,

Approved,