Gov’t livelihood opportunities open for Pantawid beneficiaries in NegOr
By: Minerva BC Newman
NEGROS ORIENTAL, June 21 (PIA) --- Over half a million livelihood opportunities for the beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilya program in Negros Oriental are there for the taking.
This is according to Aileen Lariba, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD-7) Pantawid Pamilya focal person in the region.
Lariba noted that as the Pantawid families get to be educated through the Family Development Sessions that the DSWD regularly conducts, the beneficiaries are given the necessary skills and responsibilities to take hold of their lives.
The Family Development Sessions include topics such as values, responsible parenthood, community responsibility and most of all financial capability, Lariba added.
All these prepares each of these families a chance for economic stability thus the introduction of DSWD’s Self Assistance Kaunlaran Program (SEA-K).
According to the DSWD the SEA-K is a livelihood program where cash loans are granted to a group of 10-30 members.
Each of the members take responsibility in each others loans as much as they take accountability of their loaned amount which is interest free and to be use in their proposed small scale business.
Prior to the release of the SEA-k grants, a series of capability trainings and assessment are done to equip the members to manage their business.
On June 15, SEA-K released approximately P812T to almost 300 beneficiaries in the municipalities of Bindoy, Ayungon and Basay with P250T, P381T and P181T respectively for each of these Pantawid Pamilya areas after three days of assessment, capability builiding and training.
The ceremonial pay-out of the said SEA-K grant was conducted in Bindoy with the attendance of the local officials with 1st District Representative Jocelyn Limkaichong.
“We are what we make use of each second and we become what we spent our today,” said congresswoman Limkaichong.
As this is a once-in-a-lifetime privelage, each beneficiary was encourage to make use of the grants not just to make their lives better but to sustain it.
Emphasis on integrity, honesty and social responsibility was the call of Congresswoman Limkaichong that morning.
“All government programs are now in your hands, make them work for your advantage,” the local chief executives said.
In a separate occassion on the same day, Governor Roel Degamo and Board member Arnie Teves attended the ceremonial pay-out of SEA-K to 45 Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries in the municipality of Basay.
Board Member Arnie Teves emphasized on the importance of saving and paying your dues.
Governor Degamo on the other hand announced various provincial programs and projects that supports the Pantawid Pamilya and SEA-K’s livelihood programs such as appropriation of health budget in all district and community hospitals, equipments for farming and full support to the fisherfolks.
Two years had passed and these beneficiaries are now half way through crossing the poverty threshold.
Pantawid Pamilya and SEA-K did not only provide the needed literacy but it has also appropriated the necessary trust and empowerment of their families.
“However, they still could not do to it alone, because it would still take all of us to continually build that solid bridge to cross through the various government services and with God’s grace...we do have a brighter future to look forward to,” Lariba concluded. (PIA-7 & DSWD-7)
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Religious groups, IPs in Mabinay town finally embrace Pantawid Pamilya
By: Minerva BC Newman
CENTRAL VISAYAS, June 20 (PIA) --- Nearly a thousand Indigenous Peoples and members of religious groups in Mabinay, Negros Oriental have finally embraced the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program as they started to register and be counted as beneficiaries of the program.
Due to misconceptions and wrong information, potential Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries in Mabinay town almost a thousand of them consisting of the indigenous people and extremely poor household had second thoughts on whether they want to be part of the program.
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD-7) focal person for 4Ps in Central Visayas, Aileen Lariba said some parents believed that after the five-year program, “the government will take-away their children while others think the program is part of a demonic ploy.”
Mabinay town has the most number of religious groups and indigenous persons. Lariba said, it was very difficult to convince them that the program was good for their children, but the DSWD did not give up.
For most part of year’s second quarter was spent calling out to the more than 1,000 identified potential household beneficiaries mostly living in the mountain barangays, to register and be counted as beneficiaries to received the conditonal cash transfer intended for health and education.
Mabinay mayor Ernie Django Uy, Pantawid Provincial Link Asela Bella Tse and leaders of the various religious groups and IPs came to a consultation meeting to discuss the Pantawid Pamilya program.
These IPs and religious leaders have established trust with the community, an important ingredient in the beginning of understanding the possibilities of the program in improving their lives through health and education.
“The leaders readily agreed to become partners in the implementation of the Pantawid Pamilya program,” Lariba said with great ease.
Three months after that expanded consultation, more than 70 percent of those unregistered have finally complied with the necessary documents and registered themselves as official Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries.
“That gives the Municipality of Mabinay a total of more than 4,000 Pantawid beneficiary households,” Lariba added.
What was once a misunderstood program, is now the very hope of for the extremely poor families of Mabinay, Negros Oriental, the DSWD-7 heaved a sigh of relief.
As of June 2011, the program has distributed approximately P6.5M conditional cash grant giving the town a bustling economic activity.
Lariba observed that after each cash distribution, beneficiaries load themselves with sacks of rice, a kilo or two of meat and fish.
Also on top of their list include new clothes for their children and school supplies for the opening of the school year.
“Such acts are simply wishful thinking for most of these poor people until Pantawid Pamilya came in,” Lariba noted.
Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program is a poverty alleviation strategy of the national government implemented by the DSWD.
The program is designed to give cash grants to exremely poor household with children 0-14 years.
An allocation of P500/month for health shall be given to each household and P300/month per child for education but a maximum of 3 children only for the next five years as long as the following conditions are met and complied with.
Health conditions include going to health centers for pre-natal and post natal check-up for pregnant women, preventive health check-up once a month, immunization, weighing and attendance to Family Development Sessions and for education an 85% monthly attendance is required for each children.
Being counted as one with the program, the beneficiaries now understood that it is not only their children that gets educated but themselves as well.
Aside from the cash grant which they have already started receiving, they also get to enjoy free birth registration for all their unregistered children.
Most of all, they also get to be potential beneficiaries of other anti-poverty programs of the national governemt such as DSWD’s Self Employment Assistance-Kaularan (SEA-K) Progrmam, Rice Subsidy for Small Scale Farmers and Fisherfolks, Social Pension, etc.
Lariba said families not complying with program requirements, including parents not attending regular meetings, have been delisted from the Pantawid Pamilya.