Malacañang Thursday assured that despite the losses from the series of typhoons, the implementation of the country’s anti-poverty programs will not be disrupted.

Amid the threats posed by recent catastrophes, the poverty alleviation initiatives will be vigorously
pursued to lift the people out of poverty, Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said.

“The recent very damaging typhoons may pose a threat to these programs, but this administration is determined to vigorously pursue them – come rain or shine – to raise our people from the quagmire of poverty and hopelessness,” he said in a statement.

“In fact, these temporary setbacks only further strengthened this government’s political will to free our people from the bondage of want and ignorance,” he added.

The pledge was made days after the release of the latest Social Weather Station (SWS) report showing that hunger among Filipinos has eased to 17.5 percent, or an estimated 3.2 million families in the past three months, from 20.3 percent, or an estimated 3.7 million families in the June 2009 SWS survey.

Remonde said the report “once more validates the effectiveness of the various anti-hunger and anti-poverty programs of the Arroyo administration.”

Among the programs launched are Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), the administration’s
anti-poverty flagship program that provides cash grants as much as P1,400 monthly to poor households and the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS) which has benefited some 800,000 households since 2003.

The Palace official said the government employed a dual approach of growth-generating policy reforms and continued assistance to the poor through assistance programs.