THE Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP) plans to launch a privilege card, to be distributed among underprivileged individuals, August this year.
PCUP will distribute the Urban Poor Privilege Cards, which will allow cardholders to avail of discounts on some basic goods and services.
PCUP commissioner Norman Baloro said they will pattern it with the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) cash card of the Department of Social Work and Development (DSWD), which will financially aid the urban poor.
Baloro said the program will initially help 1.8 million urban poor individuals in the country, wherein 3,000 will come from Davao City and 1,500 from Panabo City.
He said the card will include discounts in food, transportation, medicine, and other included services.
Baloro, however, said the card has its limited impact since it is not yet enacted as a law, unlike the 4Ps cash card program.
“If nindot ang impact ani nga program (If the impact of this program is well-effective), we will seek help from Congress to make it into law,” he said on Thursday during the iSpeak media forum at the City Hall of Davao.
There are almost 5.8 million informal setters in the country, 100,000 are from Davao City, based on the 2018 data from the National Housing Authority (NHA).
Baloro, however, clarified that this privilege card is different from other cards such as the persons with disabilities (PWD) cards and the senior citizens ID card.
Baloro added that the cards will be distributed to the beneficiaries for free.
“Ang pangarap naman ng Pilipinas ay hindi magkaroon ng squatter sa sariling bayan. Di pud namo sila gusto mahimong self-reliant (Our dream for the Philippines is to not have a squatter’s area. However, we do not want them to be self-reliant with the benefits of this card),” Baloro said.