Palace: CCT, health insurance programs critics ‘myopic’

MALACAÑANG slammed on Saturday critics of the government's conditional cash transfer (CCT) program and the universal health insurance for allegedly being "myopic" for linking those projects to 2013 elections.

In an interview over dzRB Radyo ng Bayan, presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda wondered why the Aquino administration has been accused of politicking whenever it has been pushing for social programs to alleviate the lives of the Filipinos.

"It's very saddening. Who is engaged in politicking? Why do the militants usually look on politics?," he said, referring to allegation of Gabriela Representative Luz Ilagan that the distribution of 5.2 million health insurance cards worth P12 billion for the poorest of the poor households would be for the 2013 polls.

He said CCT and health insurance programs of the government are for the people.

"Can they (militants) not distinguish what is politics and what is for the people? We are serving the people. Our promise is we are going to alleviate poverty," Lacierda said.

"Our friends from the left seemed to be myopic," he added.

He said the basis for selecting the beneficiaries of the health insurance and the CCT programs was the National Household Targeting System and not politics.

"This is based on the National Household Targeting System where we are able to identify the poorest of the poor. And we're using this particular survey on CCT (program) and on PhilHealth (insurance)," he said.

"This is really meant for our poverty alleviation program. We are doing what we were elected in the first place that we are going to serve the people," Lacierda added. (SDR/Sunnex)