LP may use 4Ps fund for campaign, says UNA

President Benigno S. Aquino III formally endorses Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas II as the standard-bearer of the ruling Liberal Party (LP) in the 2016 Presidential elections during the “A Gathering of Friends” at the Cory C. Aquino Kalayaan Hall of the Club Filipino in Greenhills, San Juan City on Friday (July 31, 2015). (Photo by Gil Nartea/ Malacañang Photo Bureau)

MANILA—The Liberal Party (LP) may use the P64-billion fund for the government’s Pantawid Pamilya Pilipino Program (4Ps), alternatively known as conditional cash transfer (CCT) program, for the political campaign of the party’s candidates, alleged its rival, United Nationalist Alliance (UNA).

UNA’s spokesperson Mon Ilagan said that LP loyalist, Congressman Edgar Erice admitted that using the 4Ps fund would easily elect LP’s presidential bet Mar Roxas as president.

“It was Congressman Erice himself who said that the 4Ps is LP’s mechanism to make Mar Roxas win. This scenario of using 4Ps funds to influence or indirectly buy votes for their bet in the 2016 polls is very alarming,” Ilagan was quoted as saying in a Philippine Star report.

“The conditional cash transfer literally comes with ‘conditions’ and with some strings attached. With P64 billion allocated to DSWD for this purpose, the distribution of CCT funds from January to May 2016 will definitely affect voting behavior. No doubt, it has become a legal mechanism to buy their way to Malacanang,” Ilagan added in a report by Interasyon.com.

UNA is convinced that the LP will also use the P3-trillion national budget for 2016 to boost the electoral campaign of Roxas and other LP candidates and ensure them of seats in the government.

Meanwhile, Ilagan said that UNA’s frontrunner, Vice President Jejomar Binay will continue the 4Ps program but will augment it by entrusting larger amount of funds to the health sector.