Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

16 Congress
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 1364

Introduced by HON. MA. VICTORIA R. SY-ALVARADO

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Last April 2013, the latest poverty data and statistics were released by the
National Statistical Coordinating Board. Data showed that poverty incidence for the
1* quarter of 2013 remained unchanged from the 1° quarter of 2012 figure which is
22.3%. This figure represents the measured poverty incidence or the proportion of
people below the poverty line to the total population.

Given the alarming and unchanging number of poor Filipinos, there is a need
for the State to ensure that the basic rights of the poor are protected, thus, the filing of
this bill. This Representation remains optimistic that with a little more discussion in
both Congress and the Senate, a law which aims to protect the rights of the poor by
giving them equal access to basic rights and government services.

It is the fervent hope of this Representation that the Magna Carta for the Poor
bill be signed into44w at the soonest possible time.



Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Quezon City
16" Congress “
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILLNO._4364

Introduced by HON. MA. VICTORIA R. SY-ALVARADO.

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. Title. This act shall be known as the “Magna Carta of the Poor”.

Section 2. Declaration of Policy. ~ 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. The alleviation of poverty is
likewise a responsibility of government that primarily requires the creation and
expansion of employment and livelihood opportunities involving a gradual shift from
‘government subsidy to the eventual empowerment of the poor to meet their minimum
basic needs.

In pursuit of this policy, the following guiding principles are hereby adopted:

(@) Government shall prioritize investments in anti-poverty programs to
enable the poor to fully participate in the country’s growth and
development;

(b) All government departments, agencies and instrumentalities shall provide
full access to government services for the poor at all levels;

(c) Government shall strengthen interventions to address the genuine concerns
of the poor for daily survival, and shall institutionalize long-term strategies
and solutions for the empowerment of the poor and for the protection of
the environment and conservation of natural resources to ensure
sustainable development;

(d) Government strategies shall enhance and promote the capabilities and
competencies of the basic sectors, the nongovemment organization
(NGOs) and people’s organization (POs) as development partners of the
government for the effective delivery and implementation of a wide range
of anti. programs and basic services; and


(©) Government shall ensure adequate and decent employment and living
wage for the basic sector workers.

Section 3. Definition of Terms. — as used in this Act, the following terms are
hereby defined:

(@ Basic sectors shall refer to the disadvantaged sectors of the Philippine
society including, but not limited to, farmer-peasants, artisanal fisher folk,
workers in the formal sector including migrant workers, workers in the
informal sector, indigenous peoples and cultural communities, women,
differently-abled persons, senior citizens victims of calamities and
disasters, youth and students, children and urban poor.

(b) Cooperative shall refer to a duly registered association of at least fifteen
(15) persons, the majority of whom are poor, who have a common bond of
interest and voluntarily work together to achieve a lawful common social
and economic end. It is organized by the members who equitably
contribute the required shared capital and accept a fair share of the risks
and benefits of their undertaking in accordance with the universally
accepted corporate principles and practices.

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

(@) Hazardous/danger zones shall 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.

(©) Nongovernment organizations (NGOs) shall refer to duly registered
nonstick, nonprofit organizations focused on the upliftment of the basic or
disadvantaged 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.

 Peoples’s organizations (POs) shall refer to self-help groups belonging to
the basic sectors and/or disadvantaged groups composed of members
having a common bond of interest, who voluntarily joint together to
achieve a lawful common social or economic end.

(@) Poor shall refer 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. Under this Act, the poor shall be identified
by the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC), in coordination with
the basic sectors, the local government units (LGUs), the NEDA and other
government agencies. As such, the NAPC shall be the sole repository of all
consolidated data on the poor.



Section 4. Fundamental Rights of the Poor. — The poor shall have the
following rights, the enjoyment of which is an essential requirement towards poverty
alleviation:

(a) The right to food;

(b) The right to employment and livelihood;

(©) The right to relevant and quality education;

(d) The right to shelter; and

(©) The right to basic health services and medicines.

‘The government shall, as a matter of duty and obligation, provide the
requirements, conditions and opportunities for the full enjoyment of these right of the
poor. The poor can demand this full enjoyment as a matter of right:

(1) The Right to Food — The Department of Social Welfare and Development
(DSWD) shall expand a program of subsidy to help the poor meet their
minimum food necessities. The DSWD shall issue food certificates to the
poor to enable them to obtain food items from stores duly accredited by
the Department of Trade and Industry (DT1).

To help ensure the implementation of the food subsidy program, all
food items and food products, including rice, corn, sugar and other prime
‘commodities, seized and forfeited with finality in favor of the government
for violations of customs laws shall be automatically transferred to and/or
turned over to the DSWD for proper disposition.

‘The Department of Agriculture (DA) and the LGUs shall develop a
complementary program to food subsidy so that the poor can engage in
productive activities that promote food subsidy so that the poor can engage
in productive activities that promote food self-sufficiency among the poor.

(2) The Right to Employment and Livelihood — The Department of Labor and
Employment (DOLE), in coordination with development partners
especially trade unions, the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor
(PCUP); and the LGUs, shall be responsible for ensuring that the poor
shall have access to information regarding employment openings in private
enterprises and in government program and projects. The DOLE, through
the Public Employment Service (PESO), shall likewise provide displaced
families with referral to and information regarding available emergency
‘employment opportunities in the community.

Thirty percent (30%) of the skilled labor requirements of private
contractors and subcontractors doing national and local public work
projects funded by either the national government or any LGU, must be
filled 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.

Programs that promote livelihood among the poor shall be
implemented by the concerned government agencies with the participation
of development partners and other juridical entities. These agencies shall
provide technical and administrative support to help the poor establish
their livelihood enterprise using loans obtained from the same, The
government shall provide employment and livelihood opportunities to the
poor who are displaced by natural calamities or relocated from
hazardous/danger zones.

(3) The Right Relevant and Quality Education ~ The right of the poor to
free public elementary and secondary education shall not be impaired.

‘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 ensure the full enjoyment of the poor of the right to
relevant and quality education, including preferential access to science
high schools.

‘The right to education shall include access to quality and relevant
education at the college level. The programs of providing socialized
college education to the poor, including the student loans or study-now-
pay-later plans, shall be expanded in state/local universities and colleges:
Provided, That the students qualify and maintain good academic standing.

It shall also include the right to free availment of quality
technical/vocational education and training to ensure access to decent and
productive employment.

(4) The Right to Shelter ~ The government shall develop and implement a
well-targeted and responsive subsidy scheme that will provide decent
housing with the least financial burden. This scheme shall ensure the
security of tenure for the poor beneficiaries.

In ensuring the exercise and enjoyment of this right of the poor, the
‘government shall put in place a system consisting of simple requirements
and procedures, and expeditious processing and approval.

‘The LGUs, in coordination with the Housing and Urban Development
Coordinating Council (HUDCC) and the National Housing Authority
(NHA), shall prioritize the implementation of the socialized housing
program. In identified hazardous/dangg¢r zones where the housing needs of
the poor are urgent, these agencjes \shall immediately construct and



provide free housing facilities complete with accessible road system at
resettlement sites.

(S) The Right to Basic Health Services and Medicines ~ The LGUs shall
ensure and promote the health of the populace, by providing basic and
direct health services. They shall develop and implement a system of free
delivery of health services and medicines to the poor who permanently
reside in their locality. The Department of Health (DOH) shall provide the
highly specialized level of health care and technical assistance to LGUs
and development partners in effectively implementing programs, projects
and services that will promote the health and well-being of every Filipino,
especially the poor. Government medical and health insurance programs
under existing laws shall increase, expand and liberalize their coverage so
as to include socialized basic health services and medicines to the poor.
The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), in coordination
with the LGUs, shall implement an expanded primary care package for the
poor.

Section 5. Other Rights of the Poor. ~ All other rights of the poor provided

under existing law 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 other rights offered by existing laws, including
those granted under this Act.

Section 6. Funding Requirements. ~The funding provided for the pro-poor

programs and projects of the different departments and agencies, but not limited to
those enumerated below, shall be geared towards the implementation of this Act as
follows:

(@ DSWD ~ Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) Self
Employment Assistance-Kaunlaran (SEA-K) and Kapit Bisig Laban sa
Kahirapan- Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services
(KALAHI-CIDSS)

() DOLE ~ Special Program for Employment of Students (SPES) and
DOLE Integrated Livelihood Program;

() TESDA — Skills training, Private Education Student Financial
Assistance (PESFA) and the Training for Work Scholarship Program
(TSP)

(@ DepEd ~ Alternative Learning System (ALS), Government Assistance
to Students and Teachers in Private Education (GASTPE)

(@) CHED- Student Financial Assistance Program (STUFAP)

@) NHA — Socialized housing program

(@ DOH ~ Basic health care services including potable water system;

and
(h) PhilHealth ~ Expanded primary care packages for the poor.

‘Any deficiency in the existing appropriations of the pro-poor programs
in the different de ents and agenfies shall be included in the



General Appropriations Act of the year following its enactment into
law and thereafter.

Section 7. Private Sector Participation. — The private sector is highly
encouraged to be an active partner for the empowerment of the basic sectors. The
government implementing agencies shall be authorized to accept donations, aids or
grants, in cash or in kind, from duly accredited sources, to meet the demands of the
basic rights to food, employment and livelihood, quality education, shelter, basic
health services and medicines. 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.

Section 8. Tax Exemptions. — Any donation, contribution and grant which
may be made to the sponsored program shall be exempt from the donor’s tax and the
same 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”.

Section 9. Rational Allocation of Funds. ~The department of Budget and
Management (DBM) shall be principally responsible for the efficient and rational
allocation of available funding requirements as may be needed by the different
government departments and agencies in implementing this Act.

Section 10. Penalty. — Any public official or employee who knowingly or
negligently permits the violation of any provision of this Act shall be punished with a
fine not exceeding the equivalent of six (6) months salary or suspension not exceeding
‘one (1) year or removal from office depending on the gravity of the offense, after due
notice and hearing, without prejudice to any other civil or criminal liabilities.

Private contractors and subcontractors who violate Section 4 of this Act shall
be prohibited from participating in any future bidding for government-funded public
works projects, after due notice and hearing.

Implementing agencies shall terminate the accreditation of development
partners, which, after due notice and hearing, have been found to violate any
provision of their agreement. Development partners who violate government
regulations adverted to in Section 7 of this Act shall be prohibited from participating
in any government project, and shall restitute, in favor of government, all unused and
unliquidated monies.

Section 11. Implementing Rules - The NAPC, in coordination with the
government departments and agencies, with participation of the LGUs and the basic
sectors, shall promulgate rules and regulations tg carry out the provisions of this Act
within six (6) months from its effectivity.



Section 12. Compliance Report - The NAPC shall be tasked to monitor the
compliance with this Act. Within (6) months from the effectivity of this Act and every
six (6) months thereafter, all implementing departments and agencies shall submit a
report on the compliance with the provisions of this Act to the NAPC, and the latter
will report to the House committee on Poverty Alleviation and to the Senate
Committee on Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development.

Section 13. Separability Clause. —If, for any reason, any section or provision
of this Act is declared unconstitutional or invalid, the other sections or provision
hereof which are not affected shall continue to be in full force and effect

Section 14. Repealing Clause. — All laws, decrees, executive orders,
proclamations, rules and regulations or parts thereof inconsistent herewith are hereby
repealed.

Section 15. Effectivity Clause. — This Act shall take effect immediately upon
its publication in any newspaper of general circulation.

Approved,