The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office IX recently convened the Parent Leader-beneficiaries of the Modified Conditional Cash Transfer (MCCT) program under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program to train them as advocates that will promote the gains and successes of the program based on their personal experience as beneficiaries.

The training was conducted last October 09 to 12 at Astoria Hotel, Sucabon, Zamboanga and was attended by 80 parent leaders from Zamboanga City and Isabela City who also attended the Level I of the said training.

The objective of the training is to provide in-depth knowledge of the Pantawid Pamilya program implementation, strengthen the participants’ public speaking and writing skills, community volunteerism and convergence.

“Sa training na ito naramdaman namin na mas may karapatan kame ngayon hindi lang bilang mga parent leaders kundi bilang partner ng Pantawid MCCT. Yung tulong na naibibigay namin ngayon hindi na lang sa payout kundi pati na rin sa pag-advice at pagbigay kaalaman sa mga kapwa naming beneficiaries. (We have felt that we are empowered with our rights not just as parent leaders but as partners of the Pantawid MCCT program. The assistance that we provide to the program is not anymore confined to facilitation during payout but even extends to giving advices and sharing of knowledge with our co-beneficiaries),” Geoliza Abdulla, 29, Sama from Barangay Mampang, Zamboanga City said in an interview.

Conduct of the same training in other provinces in Zamboanga Peninsula will follow. October 16-19 in Dapitan City for Zamboanga del Norte cluster, October 23-26 in Pagadian City for Zamboanga del Sur cluster, and November 6-9 in Ipil for Zamboanga Sibugay cluster. A total of 385 IP parent leaders from across the region are expected to undergo the training and become champions of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program.

As champions, their roles will mainly be as information disseminators, spokespersons, and source of inspiration to other beneficiaries. The department believes that the beneficiaries are the best people to communicate and relate the gains as experienced while under the program.

Furthermore, the training also became an avenue to orient the participants on Gender Sensitivity which will help the IP Parent Leaders to appreciate the equal roles played by men and women in nurturing their families and communities.