DSWD Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman met with close to 3,000 partner beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program recently, at the Leyte Academic Center, Palo, Leyte.

The dialogue served as a venue to address several issues and concerns including those related to the national and local elections, to share updates on the institutionalization of Pantawid Pamilya and the impact of the said program to the partner beneficiaries.

“We all have invested so much and you─ our partner-beneficiaries─ have reached this far and you can reach so much farther. I can see the day where poverty is no longer a problem. Poverty can just be history,” said Secretary Soliman.

DSWD Secretary Soliman also reiterated to the partner beneficiaries that no one can delist them from the program but they themselves if they do not comply with the set conditionalities for education and health grants, which include 85% school attendance rate, regular attendance to the Family Development Sessions (FDS), health center visits, and deworming.

“We will continue to facilitate the voice of the people, your voices, so you can make decisions that will protect your best interests.” DSWD Field Office VIII Regional Director Restituto Macuto, on the other hand, emphasized.

“Do not let anyone deny you of our programs and services, and especially the chance to get out of intergenerational poverty, the chance to have dignified lives.”

More to the cash grants they receive for the health and education of their children, the parent leaders of Pantawid Pamilya express their gratitude for the empowerment and support the program has shared with them.

“Noon, wala kaming pakialam sa mundo. Pero ngayon, dahil sa Pantawid Pamilya, nagkakaisa na kami at tumutulong sa iba-ibang activities lalo na sa barangay (We didn’t care about the world then. But now, because of Pantawid Pamilya, we are united and we help in various activities, especially in our barangay),” tearfully articulated by Irenea Cayobit, a parent leader from the municipality of Burauen, Leyte.

Also, presented among them were some of the program enhancements including the expansion of age coverage to 0-18 years old, the implementation of the Modified Conditional Cash Transfer (MCCT) for the Indigenous People and Families in Need of Special Protection, and the Expanded Students Grant-in-aide Program for Poverty Alleviation (ESGP-PA).

As of March 2016, Pantawid Pamilya has been serving 285,806 households in Region VIII- Eastern Visayas, or 95% of the 299,480 total target for year 2016. The program is being implemented in 4,394 barangays in all 7 cities and 136 municipalities in 6 provinces regionwide.

Based on the Pantawid Pamilya 2nd Wave Impact Evaluation results conducted by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), World Bank (WB), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), we found out that Pantawid Pamilya helps keep children healthy and in school and it increases household’s investments in education.###