“Diri ako masiring nga natatagan lugod hin kahubya an mga benepisyaryo. Kay hi ako, kumo usa nga benepisyaryo, nahibaru ako pagmata hin temprano, pagparigo hin temprano para buhaton akon obligasyon para ha panginabuhi ngan pagtimangno akon mga anak ha kada adlaw.” (I would not say that it just makes the beneficiaries lazy. Because I for one as a beneficiary, learned to wake up early, to take bath early to be able to do my obligations to earn a living and take care of my children every day.
She is indeed empowered. She is Michelle Calubay, 30, a mother of five children, namely Mayma Jade, 9- Grade 4; Mayka Joy, 7-Grade 2; John Matthew, 6 -Grade 1; Joel Jr.,4- Day Care; and Jake Andrei, 2. They are residing in barangay Zone 2 Mayorga, Leyte and a Pantawid Pamilya household beneficiary, now availing the SEA-K Program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
Michelle totally declines to what most critics say about the beneficiaries of Pantawid Pamilya. She added, “Maybe those who are criticizing are the people who are not members of the program. That’s why they really don’t understand how it works for the less fortunate ones”. When she was asked how she reacts every time she hears those criticisms, she usually tells them to just wait for their time.
She said, there’s a lot to tell when asked how Pantawid Pamilya and SEA-K Program helped changed their lives. One is, they are able to eat three times a day. Unlike before, she and her husband would just buy fish that will be their viand for the whole day. Usually they would still look for ways how they will be able to eat dinner especially what they budgeted for the day is not always enough. Her husband Joel, 36, is a pedicab driver who earns meager amount for daily expenses for home and school fees for their kids. That’s why she’s ever thankful these programs of the DSWD came to the picture and eased their everyday life.
Her most unforgettable experience of being a beneficiary is the learnings she gained as a member of the Mayorga Vegetables Growers Association and making rice cakes as a livelihood project. The association put up a stall where vegetables and other goods are being sold catering not just to the folks of Mayorga municipality but as well as the nearby municipalities.
These opportunities started when she became one of the Pantwid Pamilya beneficiaries for Set 4b, where she availed the program for SEA-K after a profiling and assessment of household was conducted to determine the household’s readiness for a livelihood program. It was then that Michelle and her family learned how to make rice cake or “puto” after they were given the starter’s kit. That’s why she said that she learned to wake up as early as 1 a.m. to be able to produce enough for her orders in the morning. At 10 o’clock in morning, her home made rice cakes would be sold out.
“Kon tatagan ta oras, ngan hin focus an aton mga obligasyon og buruhaton kadako hini nga bulig ha aton para diri kita magkuri. Aada la iton ha aton it pag-gios, kay aadi na ha aton mga kamot an paglaom nga guin hatag han gobyerno.” (If we will just give time and focus on our obligations and responsibilities, this is a big help for all of us so we won’t suffer. We just need to move, because hope is already in our hands given by the government.) Now, that’s Michelle’s message to all her colleagues in Pantawid Pamilya.