(SALUTATIONS)
To Mr. Chen Zhigan, Vice Minister from the Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development of China; Dr. Ouk Rabun, Minister of Rural Development of Cambodia, Mr. Kung Phoak, ASEAN Deputy Secretary-General; Ms. Jiang Qin, Minister Counselor, Mission of the PRC to ASEAN; representatives from the General Affairs Department and from the ASEAN-member countries; esteemed guests; ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 13th ASEAN-China Forum on Social Development and Poverty Reduction.
It is truly an honor for me to represent our country which has been always attending this significant activity since the first ever forum for we recognize that poverty is a continued challenge for most nations in the ASEAN Region. I am glad that this meaningful exchange of insights and experiences on intensifying poverty reduction efforts between the People’s Republic of China and other ASEAN-member nations, has been sustained.
Poverty in ASEAN-Background and statistics
It was on August 8, 1967 when the Association of the South East Asian Nations or the ASEAN was established to have a concrete cooperation to spur progress in the economic, social, cultural, technical, educational, among others and to promote regional peace and stability in the ASEAN region. The primary purpose of the ASEAN Charter is to alleviate poverty as well as narrow the development gap within the ASEAN region by working together towards inclusive sustainable development through the promotion of rural development. We have gone a long way from that historic event in 1967. We made progress in the following areas:
a. The establishment of the Malaysia-Thailand Joint Authority (MTJA) that significantly settled their overlapping claims of continental shelf in the Gulf of Thailand.
b. The establishment of the ASEAN free-trade agreement which enables the inter-ASEAN trade to flourish; and
c. The provision of a strong economic platform for each ASEAN member country to negotiate bilateral trade agreements with much bigger economies.
Yet the road to ultimate success is still long, and we have a long way to go in our fight against poverty as a region.
According to the 2017 collaborative report of ASEAN, UNDP and China on Financing the Sustainable Development Goals in ASEAN, about 36 Million people in the region still live below the international poverty line. Unfortunately, almost 90% of the 36 Million live in Indonesia or Philippines.
This is notably two years after the launch of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which the UN member countries committed to attain by 2030. And one of the most daunting tasks is to achieve the first goal --- to end poverty in all its forms everywhere. Indeed, realizing and funding these SDGs seems impossible. As it may, it can be realized by intensifying our regional and international partnerships to toughen our efforts towards poverty eradication and in meeting the remaining 16 goals that interlace it.
Despite of the rapid development of income-based measures of poverty, many people remain vulnerable to slip back into extreme poverty because of climate risk and lack of community driven developments. I personally believe that in order to make our poverty reduction efforts and interventions sustainable, we have to focus and invest further in the development of our people as well as climate resiliency activities. The people should be empowered and engaged in our global bid against poverty. In fact, at NAPC we have come up with a banner program the Sambayanihan Serbisyong Sambayanan or SSS. This is a five-year development framework of NAPC which aims to carry out a climate-responsive, culture-and gender sensitives, convergent and participatory anti-poverty strategy to attain the country’s poverty reduction target which lays down the foundation in achieving our country’s goal to end poverty by 2040, as indicated in our long-term vision AmBisyon Natin 2040. We also have a volunteer program aiming to boost the initiative of the people in the communities to actively participate in all phases of the poverty reduction programs, activities and projects of the agency.
In the 5-year Philippine Development Plan, our dear President Rodrigo Duterte has given a marching order to all government agencies and entities to converge and implement a whole-of-government and nation approach in reducing the country’s poverty incidence from 21.6% in 2015 to 14% or lower by 2022. Also, as part of our government’s effort to address poverty in the country, the Human Development and Poverty Reduction Cabinet Cluster (HDPRC) was reconstituted with mandates to exert all efforts to improve the quality of life of the Filipinos through these broad-based strategies in the delivery of services, namely:
a) Education as the Central Strategy;
b) Advance and Protect Public Health;
c) Enhance Social Protection; and
d) Build Capacities and Create Opportunities
This is the collective executive arm of the government focused on continued programs, projects and activities to address poverty reduction challenge in the Philippines.
NAPC-Mandates and Functions
The National Anti-Poverty Commission, being the poverty alleviation arm of the Philippine Government, envisions a Philippine society free from poverty and inequality. Therefore, NAPC has a vital role in attaining the 7.6% poverty reduction target of our country which is equivalent to 6-8 million Filipinos lifted out of poverty by 2022.
By virtue of Republic Act No. 8425 or the Social Reform and Poverty Alleviation Act of 1998, the Commission was mandated to oversee, monitor and recommend measures to ensure effective formulation, resource allocation and management of the program. And the unique feature of our structure is that we are the only agency in the country where the 14 basic sectors of the society are fully engaged and institutionalized as fundamental components of the agency.
Anti-poverty programs to answer the basic needs of the poor
NAPC upholds that ensuring people’s access to the ten basic needs namely: food, water, shelter, work, healthcare, education, social protection, healthy environment, peace and participation; is the ultimate way to easen poverty. Therefore, to answer the basic needs of the poor the Philippine government crafted and passed the Magna Carta of the Poor or Republic Act No. 11291. The primary goal of the law is to uplift the standard of living and quality of life of impoverished Filipinos. It also aims to address hunger and ensure full access to basic social services of the people.
【18】The law outlines the following basic rights of the poor as essential requirement toward poverty alleviation:
· Right to Adequate Food,
· Right to Decent Work,
· Right to Decent Work,
· Right to Adequate Housing, and
· Right to the Highest Attainable Standard of Health
Also, the law assigns our agency to have a central role in all these. The law has been long overdue but the whole NAPC is prepared for the long and challenging work ahead.
With that, please allow me to share to everyone some of the poverty reduction programs in the Philippines:
1. Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps (RA No. 11310) which provides conditional cash transfer to poor Filipinos nationwide with special focus on their education and healthcare needs. And I am glad to share with everybody that on April 17,2019 President Duterte has already signed the law institutionalizing 4Ps as a regular and permanent program of the government.
2. Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act (RA No. 10931) mandating the free tuition and miscellaneous fees in state universities and colleges because one way of combating the intergenerational cycle poverty is through education.
3. Universal Health Care Act (RA No. 11223) that automatically registers all Filipinos in the National Health Insurance Program ensuring them full access to health services while being protected from financial burden.
These are the contributions of the Philippines in attaining the SDGs and ASEAN objectives.
Call for ASEAN regional collaboration and how every member state can benefit
Ending poverty in the ASEAN region is a great challenge that requires a lot of efforts and concrete cooperation. I am calling for an intensified collaboration and convergence among ASEAN countries together with the People’s Republic of China who became an important development actor in the Region. I am very optimistic that after this 13th ASEAN-China Forum on Social Development and Poverty Reduction, all of us will bring home a lot of learnings and will adopt poverty reduction strategies that are doable in our respective countries. Also, I hope that we will have a productive exchange of best practices on rural revitalization and poverty reduction, linkages between rural and urban poverty and innovation for poverty reduction as well as discussion on enhancing poverty reduction partnerships to realize the SDGs in the region.
May this forum become a sustainable avenue in solidifying our efforts in addressing poverty in the ASEAN Region in a way that every member state can mutually benefit.
Closing
Truly, with China’s dedication and willingness to help the ASEAN member states to realize this ultimate goal we can learn from them how reducing poverty becomes possible. That’s why I am urging for a continued partnership and collaboration between China and the ASEAN member countries, for we believe that together we can win our fight against poverty.
Thank you so much!
