MANILA — Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Undersecretary Lorraine Marie Badoy on Friday described the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) as the true “heart and soul” of the government.
“Ito talaga ang puso at soul ng gobyerno ang DSWD. Buong buhay ko, nagtrabaho ako para labanan ang kahirapan (The DSWD is the true heart and soul of the government. In my entire life, I worked to fight poverty),” Badoy, who was previously with the DSWD, said in her speech during the media forum on the “International Day for Overcoming Extreme Poverty” at the Richville Hotel, Mandaluyong City.
“Kasama roon, ang mga itinuro sa UP (University of the Philippines) laban sa kahirapan. Adam Smith implied na ang kahirapan ay chosen o pinili dahil sa kahinaan sa karakter yan ang turo. Wealth of nations, yan ang itinuturo (The teachings in UP against poverty are included there. Adam Smith implied that poverty is chosen because of the weakness in character, that’s the teaching. Wealth of nations, that’s what is being taught),” Badoy added.
She said ignorance is part of the problem.
“Ang kahirapan ay hindi karakter kundi kundisyon lang (The poverty is not a character, but rather, only a condition),” Badoy said.
She recalled that her father sold vegetables and retired as a justice. The PCOO official is the daughter of retired Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Anacleto Badoy Jr.
“’Yun mahihirap daw ay ipinapasa sa mga anak ang pagkawala ng ambisyon, tapos hindi nagta-take ng risk (The poor are allegedly passing on to their children the lack of ambition, then not taking the risk),” she added.
Badoy admitted that she became tearful upon hearing of stories of poverty.
“Naiiyak ako sa kwento ng mga beneficiaries dahil sa kwento ng paghihirap. Napakalayo sa katotohanan (I become teary on stories of the beneficiaries about their poverty. It’s far from truth),” she said.
She stressed that the world should change in its dealings with the poor.
“Because we left them there on top of their burden at kailangan pa nilang pasanin ang burden ng mundo (and they still need to shoulder the burden of the world),” she said.
Badoy cited as an example that the poor are having a hard time in obtaining a loan from the bank compared with the others who have more in life.
“Napahirap sa kanila umutang sa bangko ng mahihirap. Padadaanin sa butas ng karayom, kumpara sa maykaya (It’s difficult for the poor to borrow money from the bank. They have to pass through the eye of a needle, compared to the well-off),” she said.
“Natutuwa ako sa programa ng DSWD dahil kini-create ang mundo para sa mahirap (I’m happy with the program of the DSWD because the world for the poor is being created),” Badoy said. (Perfecto Raymundo, Jr./PNA)
