President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's 6 Priority Programs for the Poor

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's 6 Priority Programs for the Poor

1. Barangay energization and reduce electricity cost. The government has provided electricity to 4,236 far flung barangays compared with an average of 3,000 under each of the previous three presidents.

The Arroyo administration has successfully worked for the passage and implementation of the Power Sector Reform Law which reduced electricity rates from 2^nd highest in Asia to 7^th place. The government also condoned P900 million in debts of rehabilitated electric cooperatives and renegotiated contracts with independent power producers to save over P150 billion in future PPA charges.

2. Halve the prices of medicines frequently used by the poor. The government sells 42 frequently used medicines by the poor at discounts of as much as 75 percent on retail process. The low-cost medicines are sold in 76 DOH hospitals, 118 LGU hospitals and health centers and 559 Botika ng Barangay. Now, Unilab and GlaxoSmithKline have developed cheap medicines too.

3. Construct school buildings and provide scholarships for the poor. The Arroyo administration has already constructed 1,000 schoolhouses in barangays unserved by nearby schools, against about 500 under the previous administration. Under President Arroyo, 19,000 units of personal computers were distributed to 996 high schools in 363 cities and municipalities.

The government has also implemented "Isang Iskolar Bawat Pamilya Program" for 5 million poor families to send one child each to college or vocational school. For the Students Assistance Fund for a Strong Republic (SAFE 4 SR), the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has released a total of P200 million to 822 institutions benefiting 23,500 3^rd year and graduating students.

4. Triple the loans to small business and the self-employed. The government has provided nearly P6 billion microcredit to 1.5 million mostly poor women borrowers. This assistance more than doubled the loan releases and more than triple the beneficiaries under the previous administration.

Under the SME Unified Lending Opportunities for National Growth (SULONG), a total of P28.85 billion was lent to small businesses benefiting 315,569 accounts.

5. Create 1 million jobs a year till 2010. The government has facilitated the employment of 3.175 million workers in local jobs more than a million a year. In addition, some 855,000 workers were given vocational and technical ratings every year, more than triple the annual average in the past. The P72 billion spent on agriculture and fisheries modernization boosted rural jobs by 800,000.

6. Bring clean water to all barangays. The government has implemented the Patubig ni GMA Project on December 30, 2003, which provided potable water to a total of 937,842 poor households in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

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