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Magna Carta of the Poor
Republic Act No. 11291
April 12, 2019
Case Overview and Summary
Magna Carta of the PoorDeclaration of Policy (Section 2):
- Uplift the standard of living and quality of life of the poor.
- Provide sustained opportunities for growth and development of the poor.
- Adopt area-based, sectoral, and focused intervention to poverty alleviation.
- Empower every poor Filipino to meet minimum basic needs through government-basic sector partnership.
- Comply with international obligations to end poverty.
- Prioritize investments in anti-poverty programs.
- Provide full access to government services for the poor.
- Strengthen interventions to address concerns of the poor.
- Institutionalize long-term strategies and solutions for empowerment of the poor.
- Enhance capabilities of basic sectors, NGOs, POs, and development partners for effective delivery of anti-poverty programs.
Definition of Terms (Section 3):
- Basic Sectors: Disadvantaged sectors including farmer-peasants, fisherfolk, workers, indigenous peoples, women, persons with disability, senior citizens, victims of calamities, youth, students, children, urban poor, and members of cooperatives.
- Development Partners: NGOs, POs, private organizations, and corporations engaged in programs aimed at alleviating poverty.
- Hazardous/Danger Zones: Areas posing danger to life and safety when occupied for residential or business purposes.
- NGOs: Nonstock, nonprofit organizations focusing on upliftment of basic sectors.
- POs: Self-help groups of basic sectors members with common bond of interest.
- Poor: Individuals or families whose income falls below the poverty threshold as defined by NEDA and/or cannot afford minimum basic needs, as defined by the Multidimensional Poverty Index.
- National Poverty Reduction Plan: Aggregation and consolidation of sectoral and local plans through a bottom-up approach.
- Progressive Realization: Implementation process paced according to availability of funds and adjusting to exigencies of the times.
Fundamental Rights of the Poor (Section 4):
- Right to Adequate Food: Physical and economic access to adequate and healthy food, including mitigating hunger during calamities, implementing supplementary feeding programs, ensuring food availability and accessibility, and promoting food self-sufficiency.
- Right to Decent Work: Opportunity to obtain decent and productive employment, including access to employment information, compliance with labor requirements, promotion of livelihood, compliance with core labor standards, addressing job and skills mismatch, and enhancing human capital through education and training.
- Right to Relevant and Quality Education: Full development of the human person, including maintaining free public education, making higher education accessible, and ensuring access to quality technical-vocational education and training.
- Right to Adequate Housing: Decent, affordable, safe, and culturally appropriate housing with security of tenure, including prioritizing socialized housing program, constructing housing for families in hazardous/danger zones, creating an enabling environment for access to security of tenure, and providing a system for community-based socialized housing proposals.
- Right to the Highest Attainable Standard of Health: Equitable access to facilities, goods, services, and conditions necessary for the highest attainable standard of health, including ensuring access to quality health care, providing comprehensive health services, reducing financial burden through socialized health insurance, and providing health-related education.
Non-Diminution of Rights (Section 5):
- All other rights of the poor provided under existing laws shall remain in full force and effect.
- The poor shall have the right to avail of greater rights offered by existing laws.
Social Protection (Section 6):
- The government shall implement a sustainable mechanism to build an effective social protection system, including social insurance, safety nets, social services, and labor market interventions, which shall be made affordable and accessible.
- Social protection shall be pursued in bilateral and multilateral negotiations, including arrangements with international financial institutions.
System for Targeting Beneficiaries (Section 7):
- NEDA shall maintain and periodically review a single system of classification for targeting beneficiaries of poverty alleviation programs.
- DSWD, in coordination with NEDA and NAPC, shall identify the target beneficiaries.
National Poverty Reduction Plan (NPRP) and Enhanced Coordination (Section 8):
- All government agencies shall formulate a comprehensive and convergent plan to set thresholds for the recognized rights of the poor within 100 days from issuance of implementing rules and regulations.
- The plan shall consider development plans of provinces, cities, and municipalities.
- NAPC, with technical assistance from NEDA, shall compile and harmonize these plans.
- DBM shall review the NPRP for inclusion in the budget of implementing agencies.
Participation of Basic Sectors and LGUs (Section 9):
- NAPC shall ensure the engagement of basic sectors and LGUs in the formulation and implementation of the NPRP.
- DILG shall monitor the compliance of LGUs in aligning their plans with the NPRP and implementing the same.
Funding Requirements (Section 10):
- Funding shall be sourced from existing appropriations of implementing departments and agencies, including DSWD, DOLE, TESDA, DepEd, CHED, NHA, DOH, PhilHealth, and SHFC.
- Allocations for implementation shall be given preferential consideration in agency budget funding.
- Additional funds shall be included in the General Appropriations Act (GAA).
Private Sector Participation (Section 11):
- The private sector shall be encouraged to be an active partner in financing and implementing poverty alleviation programs.
- Government agencies may accredit development partners to accept donations, aids, or grants, subject to transparency and applicable regulations.
Tax Exemptions (Section 12):
- Donations, contributions, and grants to programs under the NPRP shall be exempt from donor's tax in accordance with the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, as amended.
- Implementers of socialized housing resettlement program shall enjoy incentives stated in Section 20 of the Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992, subject to guidelines under the Balanced Housing Development Program Amendments.
Implementation through Progressive Realization (Section 13):
- Implementation shall be through the Principle of Progressive Realization.
- The President and Congress have the prerogative to allocate funds to all poverty alleviation programs as deemed necessary through the GAA.
- The government is not required to undertake immediate implementation of all poverty alleviation programs.
Compliance Report (Section 14):
- NAPC shall oversee and monitor compliance with this Act.
- Implementing departments and agencies shall submit a compliance report to NAPC every 6 months.
- NAPC shall submit a compliance report to the House Committee on Poverty Alleviation and the Senate Committee on Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development every 6 months.
Implementing Rules and Regulations (Section 15):
- NAPC shall, in coordination with government departments and agencies, and with participation of LGUs and basic sectors, promulgate rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of this Act within 6 months from effectivity.
Separability Clause (Section 16):
- If any section or provision is declared unconstitutional or invalid, the other sections or provisions which are not affected shall continue to be in full force and effect.
Repealing Clause (Section 17):
- All laws, decrees, executive orders, proclamations, rules and regulations or parts thereof inconsistent with this Act are repealed, amended, or modified accordingly.
Effectivity (Section 18):
- This Act shall take effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.
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Law
Magna Carta of the Poor
Republic Act No. 11291
•April 12, 2019
REPUBLIC ACT NO. 11291
AN ACT PROVIDING FOR A MAGNA CARTA OF THE POOR
SECTION 1. Title. — This Act shall be known as the "Magna Carta of the Poor."
SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. — It is the declared policy of the State to uplift the standard of living and quality of life of the poor and provide them with sustained opportunities for growth and development. It shall adopt an area-based, sectoral, and focused intervention to poverty alleviation where every poor Filipino must be empowered to meet the minimum basic needs through the partnership of the government and the basic sectors.
It is likewise vital that the State complies with its international obligations to end poverty in all its forms, ensure and promote the health and well-being of all.
To attain the foregoing policy:
(a) Investments in anti-poverty programs to enable the poor to fully participate in the country's growth and development shall be among the top priorities of the State;
(b) Full access to government services shall be provided to the poor by...
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