LICAB, Nueva Ecija — Scarlet Taguinod, 41, wakes up at 4 in the morning everyday to prepare food for her family and wash their dirty clothes. She needs to finish cooking, other household chores and prepare her kids to school by 6am. By that time she has to go to her neighbour who is supplying her with cooked foods which she peddles in their barangay. She earns just one peso for every pack of food she is able to sell. She usually takes home P100 after hours of peddling. Scarlet uses the money to augment the P250 not-so-regular salary of her husband Raymond, who is a seasonal driver-mechanic of palay thresher machines. During harvest time, she also helps as a tagapagpag, someone who collects and sells stray bits of palay. She admits that her and her husband's earnings, even when combined, are not enough to cover their everyday needs, especially the schooling and health needs of their four children, aged 10 to five. This is the reason why Scarlet was so happy when her family was chosen as one of the 1,693 household beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, a conditional cash transfer (CCT) scheme.
CCT beneficiary Scarlet Taguinod and three of her four children. Amita Legaspi The P4,200 her family receives per quarter, or P1,400 a month, for being a CCT beneficiary is already a big boost to the education and health and nutrition needs of her children. Scarlet enrolled three of her four children in the program, following the maximum number of children allowed per household by the CCT. “Noon, lagi naming iniintindi yung pang-eskwela ng mga bata, yung pang project nila. Ngayon, hindi na masyado. Me pang-uniform na rin sila at gamit," she told reporters, social workers and government representatives who went to the province and visited their house Friday.
(Before, we used to always worry about the kids' school requirements. Now, not so much. They now have something to pay for their uniforms and supplies.) Scarlet’s family lives in a shack adjacent to their parents' house. Her family gets water from a nearby man-made water pump and ‘connects’ their electricity from the house of their parents to allow her children to watch their favorite programs from a hand-me-down television set. Her family received their very first cash grant in September 2008. The beneficiaries were chosen based on a survey of the poorest families conducted by the National Statistical Coordination Board. As of November 10, 2010, some 826,937 poor households nationwide have been covered by the program. The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) hopes to reach one million poor households by the end of the year and 2.3 million by the end of 2011. CCT beneficiary families like Scarlet's are required to: bring their children aged 0-5 to the health center to receive regular preventive health check ups and vaccines, bring their children aged 3-5 to day care or pre school classes at least 85 percent of the time, enroll their children aged 6-14 in elementary or high school and ensure they attend classes 85 percent of the time, bring their children aged 6-14 to the health center to receive deworming pills twice a year. attend the monthly family development sessions (FDS). Households with pregnant women must also avail of pre- and postnatal care, and attended during childbirth by a trained health professional. Failure to comply with the above conditions three times will result in suspension of cash grants or dropping from the program. To facilitate monitoring, the beneficiaries were given Family Booklets where their progress and compliance with the conditions can be recorded.CCT beneficiary Dolly Angeles, 33, shows her Family Booklet where their progress and compliance with the conditions of the program were recorded. Amita Legaspi Scarlet has no problem complying with the conditions, believing it is her responsibility to bring her children to school and to give them the health services they need. So at 10 am, after selling packed foor, she will accompany her youngest daughter to the day care center, return to the house around noon to take care of her other children, and return to the day care center by 1pm to fetch her daughter. How was she able to do all the chores? "Time management lang naman po yan, natutunan ko po sa FDS," Scarlet demurrs. Aside from time management, the other topics discussed at Family Development Sessions are women's and children's rights; maternal and child care; early childhood disorder; gender development; self-awareness and community participation; leadership; parent effectiveness service; environmental sanitation; stress management; and bahavioral management. Told that the cash grants will stop after five years, Scarlet said, “Patuloy po kaming magsusumikap para lahat silang mga anak ko ay makapagtapos sa pag-aaral."
(We will still strive to get all of my kids through school.) By the light of a street lamp Poverty is likewise not an obstacle to the dreams of 15-year old John Christian Viloria, a CCT beneficiary student, who wants to become a civil engineer in the future. In spite of having to cope with just a street lamp for reading at night, Viloria was able top his class and became a valedictorian of Villarosa Elementary School . “Tinatyaga ko lang po talaga (I just worked hard at it)," said Viloria, now a sophomore student at Exequiel Arlina High School . He is presently fourth in his class.John Christian Viloria, a class valedictorian, (with his mother Joy on right), no longer needs to study under the light of a street lamp as his family now has spare money to buy gas for their gasera. Amita Legaspi He said the cash grants provided to their family help him and his three siblings to continue their education. His siblings were also honor students in their school. He added that his parents, both seasonal farm workers, now have spare money to buy gas for their gasera gas lamp. “Ngayon po mas mabilis na kami makapag-aral dahil may gasera na, mas madali na po kami nakakapag-aral (Now that we have a gas lamp, studying will be easier)," he said. Next year, Viloria will no longer be eligible for the cash grant but he vowed to study even harder to achieve his dream. “Pagbubutihin ko po lalo ang pag-aaral ko (I'll do better in my studies)," he said. Viloria’s mother, Joy, said the cash grants and being a CCT beneficiary opened up a whole new world for their family. “Nabigyan po kami ng pag-asa, na kaming mahihirap na pamilya ay kayang umunlad sa buhay (It gives us hope that poor families like ours can have better lives)," she said. Because of Viloria’s determination and perseverance, Licab Mayor Willy Domingo, who learned of the student’s plight, decided to give him a scholarship. Local government units pitch in Aside from providing scholarships, the municipal government, as part of its share in the CCT program, is setting up a Licab Development Foundation (LDF) which will be the ‘pansalo’ (catcher) for the beneficiaries. “After five years dapat nakagayak na ang local government unit (LGU) sa withdrawal of support. Sa LDF magkakaroon ng livelihood training para magkaroon ng sariling pagkakakitaan ang mga tao," Domingo told members of the media, Congress representatives and social workers who visited their municipality.
(After five years, the local government units should be able to withdraw support. The LDF will provide livelihood training so that people can earn for themselves.) He said they are also constructing a commissary or cooperative where the CCT beneficiaries and other indigent families could buy items at lower prices. “Dapat ay may kakayahan na ang mga pamilyang ito na tulungan ang kanilang sarili at makapaghanapbuhay. Doon pumapasok ang tulong ng lokal na pamahalaan," he said.
(These families should be able to help themselves earn a living. That's where help from the local government comes in.)
He explained that, after five years, beneficiaries should be better off and be able to make a difference in their own lives. The Licab municipal government also set up their rural health unit to address the health needs of the people, most especially the CCT beneficiaries. At the RHU, community health workers monitor the health of the children. Vitamins were also distributed to malnourished children. Licab is a fourth-class municipality in the province of Nueva Ecija . It is one of the four pilot areas of 4Ps in 2008. As of June 2010, some P16.5 million cash grants have been released to the province. - TJD
