KALIBO, Aklan, 15 August (PIA6) -- When you are a 30-something mother of three young children with a husband prematurely suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease, maybe you will feel desperate and question God why He gave you this kind of trial.
This was how Maricris Bernardino Sanchez of Altavas, Aklan found herself years ago. With her sick husband, a farmer, already unable to support his family, Maricriz found herself doing laundry for her neighbors, selling goods at the Altavas Public Market, and farming for the survival of her family. She never questioned God why this kind of fate came her way, rather, she pushed herself to work hard and lived from day to day, until the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) came along. “
The Pantawid became a big help to our family. It was really like that - a “pantawid”, which was to augment what we are earning so we could survive, or live a little better”, Maricris told the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) when she, together with Beverly Salazar, Social Welfare Officer III and Pantawid Operations Officer (POO) in Aklan were recent radio guests in the program hosted by the agency and aired over RMN-DYKR Kalibo.
The 4Ps is a conditional cash transfer program of the Philippine government under the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). It aims to eradicate poverty in the country by investing in health and education. During its first years of implementation, the 4Ps only covers children from 0 to 14 years old only. Presently however, 4Ps already covers children up to 18 years old, to ensure that beneficiaries will finish secondary education, a move resulting to the study of the Philippine Institute of Development Studies that the program will have less impact if coverage is only up to 14 years old.
Under the program, her high school children get P500.00 each a month, while her elementary grader gets P300.00 a month. For her part as the parent, she gets P500.00 a month, which will be used to augment her funds to buy food and other needs of her children.
Salazar said the cash payout is made every two months, so Maricris receives a total of P3,600 a month to help them tide over. To ensure that her children will not be taken off the list (as children must regularly attend classes in order to continue receiving the grant), Maricris said she daily monitors her children if they really attend classes, especially her high school kids, in between her vending activities at the public market.
Apart from the cash grants, Maricris regularly attends the Family Development Sessions conducted by the DSWD to help educate beneficiaries in uplifting their lives. It was during these sessions that Maricris realized that education is the answer to uplift their situation, inspired by 4Ps.
And so in her mid-thirties then, Maricris enrolled at Altavas College to finish her interrupted studies when she married early.
Studying while at the same time watching her children proved challenging to Maricris, she said. When before she goes directly to school to monitor her children, she said she had to request her children’s teachers to help her.
However, these struggles of hers as a 4Ps beneficiary, a working housewife, a mother, and as a student paid off this year – her family was adjudged the Huwarang Pantawid Pamilya of the Province of Aklan. Not only that, she has also graduated from college just this year, and is currently attending review classes prior to her taking the Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET). She is hopeful she would pass the examination and be a full-pledged teacher, a legacy she will remember 4Ps for forever, for what it has done for her and her family, helping and encouraging them to rise above the dire situation they were in before.
Out here in Aklan, there are currently 27,197 families benefiting from 4Ps. These families, just like that of Maricris, for sure have good stories to tell too, of how 4Ps changed their lives positively. - See more at: http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/961471180464/news-feature-huwarang-pantawid-pamilya-in-aklan-levels-up-#sthash.1SNj3z7N.dpuf
This was how Maricris Bernardino Sanchez of Altavas, Aklan found herself years ago. With her sick husband, a farmer, already unable to support his family, Maricriz found herself doing laundry for her neighbors, selling goods at the Altavas Public Market, and farming for the survival of her family. She never questioned God why this kind of fate came her way, rather, she pushed herself to work hard and lived from day to day, until the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) came along. “
The Pantawid became a big help to our family. It was really like that - a “pantawid”, which was to augment what we are earning so we could survive, or live a little better”, Maricris told the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) when she, together with Beverly Salazar, Social Welfare Officer III and Pantawid Operations Officer (POO) in Aklan were recent radio guests in the program hosted by the agency and aired over RMN-DYKR Kalibo.
The 4Ps is a conditional cash transfer program of the Philippine government under the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). It aims to eradicate poverty in the country by investing in health and education. During its first years of implementation, the 4Ps only covers children from 0 to 14 years old only. Presently however, 4Ps already covers children up to 18 years old, to ensure that beneficiaries will finish secondary education, a move resulting to the study of the Philippine Institute of Development Studies that the program will have less impact if coverage is only up to 14 years old.
Under the program, her high school children get P500.00 each a month, while her elementary grader gets P300.00 a month. For her part as the parent, she gets P500.00 a month, which will be used to augment her funds to buy food and other needs of her children.
Salazar said the cash payout is made every two months, so Maricris receives a total of P3,600 a month to help them tide over. To ensure that her children will not be taken off the list (as children must regularly attend classes in order to continue receiving the grant), Maricris said she daily monitors her children if they really attend classes, especially her high school kids, in between her vending activities at the public market.
Apart from the cash grants, Maricris regularly attends the Family Development Sessions conducted by the DSWD to help educate beneficiaries in uplifting their lives. It was during these sessions that Maricris realized that education is the answer to uplift their situation, inspired by 4Ps.
And so in her mid-thirties then, Maricris enrolled at Altavas College to finish her interrupted studies when she married early.
Studying while at the same time watching her children proved challenging to Maricris, she said. When before she goes directly to school to monitor her children, she said she had to request her children’s teachers to help her.
However, these struggles of hers as a 4Ps beneficiary, a working housewife, a mother, and as a student paid off this year – her family was adjudged the Huwarang Pantawid Pamilya of the Province of Aklan. Not only that, she has also graduated from college just this year, and is currently attending review classes prior to her taking the Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET). She is hopeful she would pass the examination and be a full-pledged teacher, a legacy she will remember 4Ps for forever, for what it has done for her and her family, helping and encouraging them to rise above the dire situation they were in before.
Out here in Aklan, there are currently 27,197 families benefiting from 4Ps. These families, just like that of Maricris, for sure have good stories to tell too, of how 4Ps changed their lives positively. - See more at: http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/961471180464/news-feature-huwarang-pantawid-pamilya-in-aklan-levels-up-#sthash.1SNj3z7N.dpuf
