Juliet Pagente, 45 years old proudly shared in front of her fellow Parent Leaders of Pantawid Pamilya program on how the her family’s life was changed after being included as beneficiaries of it, during the recently held roadshow of DSWD Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman in Balara Elementary School, Quezon City.

“Noon, nakakaraos naman kame pero hirap… ngayon, laking pasasalamat ko na nakasama kame sa Pantawid Pamilya… napakalaking tulong lalo’t napasama ang anak ko bilang skolar ng ESGPPA,” Juliet narrated.

Her youngest child, Vincent, 18 years old is currently in his second year in Mechanical Engineering at Rizal Technological University (RTU) as grantee of Expanded Students Grant-in-Aid Program for Poverty Alleviation (ESGP-PA) with an education assistance amounting to P30,000.00 per semester.

ESGP-PA is a college scholarship program of the government being by DSWD and Commission on Higher Education (CHED) in partnership with SUCs for the Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries.

 Serving constituents even without cash grants

Juliet admitted that her family no longer receives cash grants since all her children already graduated in high school, yet, she continuously performs her duties as a Parent Leader.

“Pag may nangailangan at lumapit sa akin, tinutulungan ko sila sa abot ng aking makakaya… kung may problema ang mga member kong Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries, tinuturuan ko sila para maayos nila ito… dati ako ang tinutulungan, ngayon ako ang nakakatulong sa kapwa ko,” she added.

Juliet also shared that she even lends some money to her needy neighbors whenever an emergency happens.

 Maximizing the government’s support

In 2015, Julieta’s family availed the capital assistance of DSWD under the Sustainable Livehood Program (SLP) where they receive an amount of P7,000.00 that she used for the business in selling perfumes, laundry soap and dishwashing liquid.

Juliet and her husband Edward, 51 years old were also employed under the cash-for-work scheme as street sweeper for 15 and 10 days respectively in December 2015.

“Kung gagamitin sa mabuti ang tulong ng pamahalaan, talgang maganda ang kalalabasan nito sa buhay ng tao.. saka siyempre kailangan ding samahan ng sipag at tyaga para mapagtagumpayan ang lahat ng pagsubok,” Juliet emphasized.

As she greatly valued the learnings she is gaining from the monthly Family Development Session (FDS), Juliet maintains her attendance in it, even without cash grants at stake.

As of March 3, 2016, there are 230, 273 Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries in Metro Manila who are receiving their respective cash grants based on their compliance to the conditionalities under the program. ###