PH Eyes 14% Decrease on Poverty Incidence by 2020

Presidential Communication Operat ions Office (PCOO) Assistant Secretary Ana Marie Paz Banaag on Thursday reiterated the administration’s goal to reduce poverty incidence in the Philippines by 14 percent in 2020.

This, as she underscored partnership with China in realigning the country’s program to ease implementation of the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) ‎2017-2022.

In an interview on the sidelines of the China-Philippines Dialogue 2017, Banaag said Beijing cooperates with different departments in the government to offer assistance needed in a specific agency.

“The PDP aims to decrease poverty incidence by 14 percent by 2020. We want to realign and we want to have the PDP, under the NEDA and under the Ambisyon 2040, yung lahat ng programa natin aligned sa mga programa ng China. With that, hindi tayo mahihirapan,” she told reporters.

“Sa mga programa ng ating iba’t ibang ahensya, tumutulong sila (China). We have meetings with different departments kung ano ang kakailanganin natin to which China can support,” she added.

At the PCOO, Banaag said there are several bilateral and multilateral agreements with other state media groups in China, one including the memorandum of agreement with China Radio International (CRI) to conduct training sessions and sharing of content.

State-run media groups PTV4, Radyo Pilipinas and the Philippine News Agency also have separate memorandums of understanding (MOU) with CRI and Xinhua News Agency.

Banaag said “the Philippine-Chinese relations has never been as warm as before.”

She reaffirmed that President Rodrigo Duterte’s “deep engagement” and “constructive approach” towards China already started yielding good results. (PNA)