“Magandang ordinansa ang balak ipatupad ng aming lokal na pamahalaan kaya talagang ipapakita namin ang aming pagsuporta dito… malaking tulong ito sa amin lalo na sa ibang kapwa namin benepisyaryo ng Pantawid Pamilya na walang pangtustos sa pagpaparehistro ng kanilang mga anak,” Roberta Bagtas said.
Roberta, 47 years old or mostly called in their area as “Ruby,” is among the 70 Pantawid Pamilya Parent Leaders who attended the public hearing on September 15, 2015 for the proposed city ordinance that waves the fees/ charges relative to civil registration of babies born in Navotas City and all other city-operated lying-ins and clinics.
As a plain housewife and an active PL in brgy. Tangos, Navotas City, Ruby recognized that this ordinance will significantly enable all the children who will be born in the said facilities, to be registered and be a genuine Filipino.
“Masaya rin kame na kabahagi na kame ngayon sa pagbuo ng ganitong ordinansa… napakalaking pagbabago na ngayon ay may boses na ang katulad namin sa pagpapatupad ng mga ordinansa sa aming syudad,” Ruby added.
According to Ruby, this is the second time that they were being invited to attend a public hearing regarding an ordinance that will be implemented in Navotas. She recalled that their first was on March 2015 which they discussed the operationalization of the newly-built city hospital at brgy. San Jose.
In 2013, DSWD-NCR capacitated the Pantawid Pamilya partner-beneficiaries in Metro Manila regarding active citizenship. This is thru their monthly Family Development Session (FDS) which trained them on how to be involved and be vigorous members of the society who can freely and articulately express their thoughts on the issues that directly affect them in their respective communities.
This participation of the parent leaders in public hearing manifested that they are now capable of applying their learnings acquired from the said training.
Overall, there are 7,653 Pantawid Pamilya parent leaders in Metro Manila who voluntarily assist the DSWD field staff in monitoring the compliance of their fellow beneficiaries in the conditionalities set under the program.
For Pantawid Pamilya households of 25-30 in an area, a Parent Leader was elected which serves as the group’s frontrunner in terms of information dissemination and participation to various community activities.
Pantawid Pamilya is a rights-based program which invests in human capital through the provision of cash grants for the health and education of poor families especially for the children aged 0-18 years old.###