Wack-Wack Golf and Country Club, Mandaluyong City
31 March 2016

President Benigno S. Aquino III lauded the Center for Community Transformation (CCT) as he highlighted the organization’s effort and accomplishment in helping Filipino communities and families during its 25th anniversary.

In the year 2015, CCT, headed by its president Ruth Callanta, helped the Filipino communities in disaster-struck areas by providing housing assistance to 294 families, boat loans to 840 fisherfolks, and livelihood assistance to 2,637 families. Within that same year, CCT’s Savings and Credit Association was able to cover 48,096 men and women.

“I am well aware that the impact you have had on Filipino society goes far beyond mere figures. There are the fathers and mothers you empower through microfinance to operate their own small businesses and provide for their families’ needs; the communities to whom you give free education and health services; the families whose spiritual lives you have strengthened through your ministry,” President Aquino said.

The President vowed that the government would continually stand by the CCT in uplifting communities by forging partnerships to merge each skills and capacities. He cited the Conditional Cash Transfer Program as a clear example of the growing partnership between the government and the CCT in fighting poverty in the country.

“Under our CCT, household beneficiaries receive cash assistance in exchange for fulfilling certain conditions, including sending their children to school and ensuring they receive the necessary vaccinations and attend medical check-ups,” he explained.

Furthermore, President Aquino stressed how the CCT partnered with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in implementing the Program for Livelihood and Transformation (PRO-LIT), and with an institute accredited by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) in providing training on carpentry, plumbing, masonry, and electrical installation and maintenance.

“You and all other Filipinos doing their part to build our nation everyday are proof positive that, no matter what happens next month or in the years afterward, there will always be men and women who choose to tread the straight path, fight the good fight, and work for the benefit of all Filipinos,” he concluded.

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