The Search for the 2019 Exemplary Pantawid Pamilya Children

By: Dr. Rex Casiple

I WOULD like to extend my congratulations to the winners of the 2019 Search for the Pantawid Pamilya Children: Joshua Hipolito of Roberto H. Tirol High School, Concepcion, Iloilo (Champion), Julliean May Montaño of Gatuslao Elementary School, Candoni, Negros Occidental (1^st Runner-Up) and Harlen Kling Omalde of Laua-an National High School, Laua-an, Antique (2^nd Runner-Up).

The search aimed to recognize the exemplary children of Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries who serve as excellent examples in their households, schools, and communities. The activity also aims to encourage children to be active citizens performing beyond just complying with the conditions of the program.

Specifically, the Search aims to encourage exemplary compliance of children to the conditionalities and co-responsibilities set by the program through recognition of those who excel in doing so and to develop exemplary Pantawid Pamilya children beneficiaries as advocates of the program and its thrusts in health and education.

The winners of this search will be the Pantawid Pamilya local/provincial/regional/national ambassador, especially on children’s rights specifically to health and education. They will attend in press conferences and radio/TV (local) programming/guesting for the Pantawid Pamilya. They will serve as an actor/actress or model for the audio-visual presentations, radio plugs, and photoshoots. And they will deliver messages/speeches for activities pertaining or relevant to children’s rights, health, and education.

As one of the selected judges, I was amazed by the creativity of these children on how they made their respective scrapbooks out of the indigenous materials and of their exemplary performances in the talent portion through singing, dancing, drawing and acting. I would like also to congratulate the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Region VI, under the leadership of Director Ma. Evelyn B. Macapobre, for the success of this Regional Search for Exemplary PantawidPamilya Children.
Likewise, congratulations to Ms. Montessa Griῇo Caoyonan, the Pantawid Information Officer II and the rest of the DSWD Region VI family for the job well done!

The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) is a human development measure of the national government that provides conditional cash grants to the poorest of the poor; and to improve the health, nutrition, and the education of children aged 0-18. It is patterned after the conditional cash transfer (CCT) schemes in Latin American and African countries, which have lifted from poverty millions of people around the world. The DSWD is the lead government agency of this program.

As of June 2015, there were at least 4,436,732 registered household-beneficiaries under this 4Ps program. The program also covers 10,888,887 schoolchildren aged 0 to 18 with an average of two to three children per household.

The program aims to have at least one child per poor household finish in college. Hence, under the partnership of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), the DSWD, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), and the Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC), the 4Ps committed to break the vicious poverty cycle afflicting the poor but deserving Filipino students through scholarship program.

Thousands of 4Ps beneficiaries were enrolled in at least 112 state colleges and universities (SUCs) nationwide. The grantees were enrolled in priority programs identified by CHED, such as, in Information Technology, Agriculture, Teacher Education, Science and Mathematics, Engineering, Health Sciences, Arts and Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Business Related Courses, Architecture, Maritime, and Communication.