“Gustuhin ko mang makapagtapos pero… hindi sapat ang hanapbuhay ng aking magulang upang matustusan yung pangangailangan ko sa pag-aaral.”

It is not anyone’s fault. Some of us are just unfortunate to be in a situation that does not allow us to have the privileges that others have. But school is not a privilege. It is every child’s right to be educated and learn. This story is about how a young boy persevered for his right to education. This is the story of Johnrey L. Mabait, an ESGPPA scholar from Zamboanga Sibugay.

Like many youth, Johnrey’s dream is to finish a degree in college and be able to help his family financially. But his circumstances would not allow that because he was born to a family that has very little in life. His father can barely provide for the daily needs of a spouse and four children even more so for their educational needs.

Growing up, Johnrey kept asking why the world was unfair. He compares his life to those of other children his age and could not understand why some have more while others have less. To a kid, the vastness of this inequality seemed surreal. But slowly, as he grows up, his understanding of life also grew and he learned to view things in an adult perspective.

Realizing that finance is their major problem and hindrance to achieving his dreams, he took a big step and for the first time, it felt like he was no longer a kid. He dropped everything back in his hometown –his school, his friends, his tough yet simple life in the provincial, including his family. He started to live an adult life outside of his comfort zone.

“I felt alone and useless countless times,” says Johnrey.

Despite leaving and dropping everything he grew up knowing, his feeling was weightier than it used to be. It is as if he felt the burden of the responsibility that he took for himself.

With a heavy but determined heart, Johnrey moved to the busy, chaotic, and totally different world in Manila to look for opportunities. The city was big and full of lights, cars seemed like flying through the flyovers which was new to his sight that were used to the provincial life. He thought that this is his time to be successful with the opportunities that the big city brings.

Little did he know, life would not be easy on him. He submitted applications here and there. He endured walking under the sun holding his credentials, pieces of paper that make him worthy of a job but to no avail. He walks back home thinking how hard it is to find a job when you do not have a diploma in your hand.

In school, Johnrey might not be the smartest but he is diligent. He studies hard and he has a pretty good standing. He could have finished his studies should he only have the resources and money to pay for it. And again, he could not help but compare his life to others.

“Yung feeling na every night bago ka matulog di mo maiwasan na tumulo luha mo kasi minsan maisip mo na nakapaka-unfair ng panahon kasi yung mga taong gustong makapagtapos sa pag-aaral sila pa yung pinagkaitan ng pagkakataon at yung tao namang may kakayahan sa buhay yun pa ang walang pake sa pag-aaral. (That feeling when you go to bed at night, you can’t help but shed a tear because there is so much unfairness in life; those that eagerly want to finish their studies are those that do not get the opportunity to do so while those who have the means apparently waste their given opportunities,)” Johnrey wrote in a statement.

After a year of working part-time, Johnrey decided to go back to his hometown in Zamboanga Sibugay. At first, Johnrey was hesitant to even set a foot in college thinking that it is an embarrassment.

During this time, their DSWD’s Municipal Link constantly conducts home visits to the family of Johnrey and tries to offer interventions for the family as they are members of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, government’s poverty-alleviation program that provides grants for education and health of children. Through counselling and constant encouragement from the Municipal Link and Johnrey’s sister, he was encouraged to go back to school and finish his studies.

Three months in school and he felt anxious that he might not be able to finish his studies again due to lack of finances. The thought of going through the same struggle again was quite traumatic for him. During one of the counselling sessions with the Municipal Link, he opened up and discussed his qualms.  

The Municipal Link (ML), being the Social Worker that is assigned on the well-being of the family, strategized several interventions that would address the worries of Johnrey. The ML introduced him to the Expanded Students’ Grants-in-aid Program for Poverty Alleviation or the ESGP-PA which entitles a qualified beneficiary to receive monetary aid for college expenses. The ML helped him accomplish his requirements until he was accepted in the program.

“Now, I am finally reaping the fruit of my labor for 4 years… Thank you for not giving up on me,” says Johnrey.

Johnrey finish Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education Major in Mathematics at the Western Mindanao State University External Studies Unit in Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay.

Yes, life may be unfair sometimes if you see it in a perspective of comparison. But once you get to know people who fight for balancing inequalities, people and organizations who reach out, people who offer opportunities, you will see that fairness is at hand and success is possible even for a poor family like ours. Opportunities are there; you just have to know where to look. ###

When you are in an impoverish situation, you feel like your hands are tied and you could barely move. The tight grip of the rope on your wrists limits your movement; it can even make you feel helpless. No matter how much you struggle, you will always end up in the prison cell of your unfortunate condition. But not when you are given the right tools to make it out.

From the small town of Sulo, Naga in Zamboanga Sibugay, Tumacas Family will tell us how they managed to free themselves from the bondage of poverty.

Tumacas, which by the way is a Tagalog word that literally translates to “escaped” (how fitting to our theme, right?), is a champion of success brought about by hard-work, perseverance, discipline, and social interventions.

In a recent interview by a Social Worker, Marites B. Tumacas, the loving wife of Dionesio Tumacas and a mother of two, reckoned the struggles the family had to go through before they even became beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program.

START OF CAPTIVITY

Her husband, Dionesio, is a rubber tapper at a nearby small cooperative earning a meager 120 pesos a day that covers food, transportation allowance, school expenses of children, and other expenses. With 2 children, both of which are attending school, one in high school and the other in college, it was a constant torment for Marites and her husband to budget their earnings day in and day out. She remembered having to weep on her tear-stained daster at night while she prays for better days to come.

Dionesio’s salary, no matter how they stretch and wisely spend it, clearly just cannot suffice the needs of the family. He needed to look for alternatives, a part-time job, anything that could augment their earning. Despite enormous effort, there is not much opportunity in the province and few job vacancies were usually a skills mismatch for someone who did not finish college education. Hence, when it is season, and while Dionesio is at work, Marites helps by assisting her neighbor harvest grains in the rice field in exchange for rice grains for her family’s consumption. The scorching heat of the sun is nothing compared to her fiery determination to feed her family. By doing this, she is able to get one sack of rice grains for every five sacks that they harvest.

Even that, it is still a hard knock life for the Tumacas family. While the parents have managed to put food on their table for them, the scarcity of financial resources led them to settle in a decrepit “kubo” that was made of light materials, a roof made of nipa palm that leaks when the angry rain falls. In the Philippines, the wet season begins in June and ends in October. This is also when the family, almost every night, bath in their sleep or takes shelter under an umbrella that serves as their band aid protection from the droplets of water that fall from the holes of the roof. Marites recounted: if you look up inside the house, it is as if the house is a free billboard full of posters and random plastics of chips that they stick to the roof to cover the holes. In the afternoon when the sun is up, they will be greeted by sun rays that poke from tiny openings of the roof.

Impoverishment had hit them so bad that it put her dreams of becoming a teacher one day on the back burner. But she had always wanted her children to have a bright future ahead of them and she knew that it can only be possible through education.

Desperate to send her kids to school, she recalls looking for opportunities where her children can get quality education with little cost.

 “It was like my heart was stabbed by a tip of a needle when I saw my son cried because I could not let him take the scholarship grant from a private school because we cannot afford to get him a dormitory and provide for his daily meal allowance,” she described.

Her son, Justin Jay, graduated as Salutatorian in elementary and would have been able to take advantage of a scholarship offer from a private school but it was the additional expenses such as the boarding house rent and daily allowance that forced the parents to step back from such an opportunity.

Aside from the educational expenses that the Tumacas family are tied in, they are also burdened by some health issues that both Marites and Dionesio are seemed to be cut from the same cloth. Dionesio suffers from psoriasis and hypertension while she suffers from cervical polyps and hypertension as well. They have been advised to avoid stress and too much strenuous activities but their past financial status left them with no option but to toil and plow the neighbor’s farm to make a living or else they have nothing to put in their mouth.

ESCAPE TOOL

When you are held captive, you should keep an alert mind and be mindful of the opportunities. One must look for tools to free himself and use these opportunities to further optimize the chances of getting out (of poverty, in this case).

Marites was over the moon the moment she found out she was considered for the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program on October 2012. She thought that this is their opportunity, their tool to help alleviate them from the bonds of poverty that they are tied to.

Since then, she had made sure that the money they were getting from the 4Ps cash grant was put to good use, the way it was supposed to. She went back to the academe to pursue a Secondary Education course and graduated with flying colors in 2014. A year after that, she took and passed the Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET) and was immediately absorbed as a full time Secondary teacher at Sulo National high school in the same year (2015). Sometimes, things have their way of working out when you least expect it.

She also learned about the various programs and services that the government agencies offer for the welfare of the marginalized families through her attendance to Family Development Sessions (FDS). It was as if her blindfolds were taken off of her eyes and her hands were untied and doors of opportunities have opened for them when she learned about these services.

Thereafter, she noticed that their life began to get better. Their membership to the governments’ program enabled them both, her daughter and her, obtain their college diplomas and are now both full time teachers at Sulo National High School. Her son, Justin Jay, is completing his final year in Criminology.

Through her husband’s Phil health, one of the inherent benefits for being a 4Ps member, Marites was able to go under the knife that removed her cervical polyps. On top of that, they are now able to buy maintenance medicines for hypertension and afford regular medical check-ups.

Being a member of the 4Ps did not only help the Tumacas family in the financial aspect. More importantly, it empowered Marites, to know some of her basic human rights especially those that are stipulated in the provisions of VAWC. In fact, she has helped at least 2 troubled teens who were allegedly sexually abused by their own father.

Tumacas or in Tagalog “escaped” rightfully describes Marites’ situation. Through determination, hard work and perseverance Tumacas family had eventually escaped and freed themselves from the bondage of extreme poverty.

If you can give something to other people, what would you give?

As much as we would like to be generous and kind, unfortunately, many of us also have just enough for our own. Not all are born with a silver spoon in their mouth, they say. Others must work hard, persevere, and even endure sacrifices in order to attain at least a decent life.

At an early age, Uminsalam J. Amerol from Barangay Sta. Catalina, Zamboanga City, had hurdled many obstacles in life that served as the core foundation of her character. Like many struggling Filipinos, Uminsalam also experienced not having ‘baon’ for recess time in school. With her tiny feet, she would walk back to their home during recess to drink water just so she would not be hungry in class.

She also recalls selling yema and ice candy in the hopes that it would somehow help her parents. Whatever she earns, she shares with her siblings and give some to her parents. As a child, she would not ask for money from her parents because she knows that they do not have any. That, and many other memories, have taught her to constantly seek for opportunities where she could make money and share the blessings that she receives.

With the grace of God and her determination, she was able to finish her studies. But opportunities were quite elusive so she decided to work overseas as a Domestic Helper in Kuwait. It was such a sacrifice because although she belongs to a poor family, they sure share a close and harmonious relationship with each other. Being away from home is something that challenged her strength.

Life as an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) is not like walking in a park. It can either make you strong or break you apart. And though Uminsalam was lucky that her employer was kind, she cannot escape the thing that bothered her most –her parents were becoming sickly to the point that they frequently checked in and out of the hospital.

After her two-year contract, with very little savings in the bank, she had to come home to be with her parents.

She then proceeded to taking the 24-unit Professional Education so she can qualify to take the Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET). During this time, she also has started to build her own family with her husband and children.

In the year 2014, they became members of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) under Modified Conditional Cash Transfer (MCCT) track. She feels so grateful that the program was able to help them sustain the needs of her eldest child in school. And since 4Ps beneficiaries are registered to the PhilHealth through the program, the agency was also able to help her family when she gave birth to her second children who are twins.

When asked about what she enjoyed the most about being a member of 4Ps, Uminsalam says that she enjoyed attending the monthly Community/Family Development Session (CFDS). As a mother, she finds value in the lectures that are discussed during their meetings especially on parenting and the rights of women and children.

Luck must be on her side this time. She was able to finish her Professional Education Certification, she became a member of the 4Ps, she just gave birth to two new babies, and in 2016, Uminsalam passed the LET which makes her a licensed teacher.

After two years, she was finally hired as a public-school teacher. With this new opportunity, she felt like she is blessed enough. She can now provide for her family’s needs on her own so she thought that it is time to share the blessings to other families who may have undergone or undergoing struggles as she did in the past.

Going back to her core character, she remembered that in the past, they were also struggling and they can just wish that someone would help them. With that in mind, she decided to waive her membership from the 4Ps program in the hope that some other family/ies will be able to get in, take her slot, and be able to rise from poverty. This is despite the fact that her eldest son is just 8 years old and her second children are still 4 years old which means that she could still have enjoyed the grants from the program for many years should she decide to stay in the program.

“Bilang guro, kaya ko nang sustentuhan ang aking pamilya sa tulong na rin ng aking asawa. Humingi na ako ng waiver sa aming Community Facilitator upang makaalis sa programa upang mapagbigyan naman ng daan ang iba pang karapat-dapat na maging parte ng programa. (As a teacher, I feel like I can already sustain the needs of my family with the help of my husband. I requested to be waived from the program from our Community Facilitator to give way to other families who deserve to be part of the program,)” Uminsalam said.

Uminsalam recognizes that she is not rich, at least not yet, but this is her simple gesture of showing gratitude for the blessings that she receives and her gift to poor families just like her. Her generous heart is big enough to care for other families.

Lucena O. Velasco, a 50-year-old mother of three, comes from a family of farmers. All her life, she has worked alongside her parents who farm on a land that they do not own. Her uncles and other relatives are farmers as well.

In the far and quiet municipality of Salug in Zamboanga Del Norte province, they live a peaceful albeit meager life cultivating the bounty of nature. They mostly spend their days under the scorching heat of the sun, growing crops, and working the ground for planting seeds.

Although this provides for her family, Lucena certainly does not dream this for when she has a family of her own. She desires for a better life for her children. For her, it is enough that her hard work and sacrifices stay with her generation and not pass on to her children.

When she married, she worked double time to make both ends meet. Her husband, Remegildo, is into carpentry earning three thousand pesos monthly. Lucena, on the other hand, applied as a house helper to suffice the needs of their growing family.

The couple strives hard to let their children be in school as they think that this will be their ticket out of their unfortunate situation. They are just grateful that the country’s conditional cash transfer program, the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), helps them keep their children in school by providing cash grants for education and health.

Through dedication, perseverance, and prayers, her children reached college and took up Bachelor of Science in Marine Engineering. It was quite a challenge for the family especially that her eldest son, Ryan, was enrolled in Zamboanga City. Good thing that Ryan was diligent and gumptious at the same time which landed him a scholarship grant at the university.

By God’s grace, Ryan triumphantly finished his degree and was able to pass the licensure examination. He was hired by a company in Manila and currently works overseas with an income of 70,000 pesos monthly.

With this well-deserved success, Ryan had built their fully-concreted house with two air-conditioned rooms as a gift to his parents. He also bought 2 units of XRM motorcycles as gifts for his father.  The family also bought some farm lands in the municipality of Godod, Zamboanga Del Norte as a recollection of their childhood experiences as farmers.

Lucena’s and Remegildo’s second child, Jan Cris also wants to try his luck on the sea as a Mechanical Engineer. He is currently waiting for his schedule for licensure examination. Meanwhile, the youngest child, Desiree is in Grade 12.

As per latest assessment of the program, Velasco family is now at Self-Sufficient level and they actually have already exited from the program. Lucena and Remegildo feel so proud of the achievements of their children. They have successfully transitioned from being farmers to seafarers.

We often hear parents say that they do not want their children to experience the same struggles as they did. It is most commonly heard from Filipino parents who want to give a more decent and comfortable life for their children. But what happens when it is the child who expresses displeasure of his life?

Tader J. Amuali is a Pantawid Pamilya monitored child from Zamboanga City. Being the youngest in the family of 8, he has seen the difficulties that his parents and his older siblings went through. No one from his family has finished a degree because of poverty. It is as if their lives are meant to constantly paddle to survive or else drown in deep water.

As a kid, he would often see his older siblings help their father in the vast and mostly risky waters of the open sea trying to catch fish for livelihood. At dawn, he sometimes wakes up to the noises of his father arriving with nothing in the basket.

His mother, on the other hand, would take laundry jobs from their neighbors no matter how small it pays only to augment whatever income they get on a daily basis.

In moments like this, he cannot do anything but accept his fate being in poor situation with very less, and sometimes nothing, in life. He would often be seen in the afternoon walking along the shore, looking at the endless horizon of the sea, and thinking about what he can do to help. After all, he is only a kid. What can a 12-year-old kid do help in such a gigantic family struggle?

A CHILD THROWN INTO THE OCEAN

The late afternoon walks led to one life-changing decision that impacted his life, taking away his right to fully enjoy being a kid playing around and learning new skills and knowledge in school. This decision has brought him to sacrifice his freedom, so to speak. He decided to stop going to school and help his father instead. He thought that with his strength being young and able, he would be able to be of help to the family. His school, he thought, will just burden them more.

Every night, while his friends and former classmates are conveniently sleeping in their comfortable mattresses, Tader would be in the ocean making the most of his time. Then he would arrive in the shore very early in the morning to prepare their catch to be delivered to the market. He only gets a few hours to sleep before it is time to work again. This routine has been very exhausting for young Tader.

He felt as if his life as a child was thrown into the ocean and that he needed to learn to swim at a very young age. It did not help as well that the waves were tossing him around and tormenting his current situation.

“Sobrang hirap, mahirap kumita ng pera kahit pangkain lang araw-araw lalo na kapag masama ang panahon o minsan walang huli (It is very difficult, it is hard to earn a living especially during uncontrolled weather situations, sometimes we come home with nothing,)” Tader said as he talks to his Social Worker, the City Link.

Two years have passed and life has not been any easier for young Tader. From time to time, his Social Worker conducts home visits, family counselling, and monitors the over-all well-being of the family. Tader is quite relieved that someone checks on them and he has someone whom he can talk to about his personal struggles.

During one of his conversations with the Social Worker, he mentions that he misses school. Tader, apparently, was an enthusiastic kid in school. He loved learning new things and he says that he finds excitement in gaining new knowledge every day.

Their conversation has transitioned from how he misses attending classes to his personal realizations now that he has already felt the hardships of life. He tells the Social Worker about how he does not want to see himself doing the same thing for his entire life. He wants to do something else. He says that he does not want to regret someday knowing that he could have done so much more.

His first-hand experience of what his father and brothers are going through each day made him realize his aspirations and goals in life. As young as he is, he already knows that he does not want to live his whole life as their present situation.

Tader realized that he cannot do this everyday and expect to swim out of poverty by doing such. And so, with the intervention of the City Link, he reached to a decision that led him back on track. He wants to go back to school.

PADDLING FORWARD

Just like a paddle that propels the boat forward to its destination, Tader feels like he was given a paddle to move on from the ocean to a better route in reaching his goals. He learned from his Social Worker about several options that he could avail that would let him stay in school.

In 2019, with renewed hope, 14-year-old Tader Amuali enrolled as a Grade 6 pupil. Since then, he has been attending school and does not miss his classes. He advanced to 7^th Grade.

Currently, in order to be in school while being able to help his family and at the same time catch up to formal education, he enrolled through the Alternative Learning System or ALS.

ALS is a parallel learning system in the country that provides opportunities for out-of-school youth and adult (OSYA) learners to develop basic and functional literacy skills, and to access equivalent pathways to complete basic education.

Tader’s ALS teacher, Ms. Janet Lasola has also testified to his eagerness to learn and finish his studies.

“Tader is a fast-learner and he submits his modules on time and completely. There is so much potential in the child and you can clearly see that he has a goal to finish,” says Lasola.

The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) monitors his progress and ensures that he enjoys and stays in school through the Bata, Balik Eskwela (BBE) campaign. 4Ps provides cash grants for indigent households to support the educational needs of children.

“As a 4Ps child, I want to tell the other 4Ps children like me to strive hard in obtaining education because that is the only way to have a good future, it is the only way out of poverty. If all children will be professionals someday, they can apply for better jobs,” Tader said in a statement.

Because of his experience, Tader pays respect to the fisherfolks and laborers who work day and night to provide for their families. But for now, his plan is to focus on his studies even if it takes walking along the shore with a book on his hand. While it is true that he learned a lot as a fisher kid, what he truly desires as a grown-up man is to become a policeman someday.

You are a 4Ps Champion! In over a decade, we have seen several lives that changed, lives that succeeded, and lives that become sturdy pillars in nation-building. This graduation ceremony is proof of how far we all have come as beneficiaries, as program implementers, and as contributors to the well-being of the poor, vulnerable, and marginalized families and individuals.

As your OIC Regional Director, it gives me so much joy and fulfillment to see that families who were once at survival state are now realizing their dreams, their aspirations, and they continue to strive hard to unleash their true potential –that despite the limited resources of the government, they can step out of the vicious cycle of poverty. Many have been said about the program and its beneficiaries, yet you are here, the living documents that tell the world that the poor is worth fighting for.

Today, you are provided with equal opportunities to start over, to stand on your own feet, and to chase the life that you all deserve and have dreamt for your families.

To the 4Ps graduates, celebrate, but remain motivated. As you move up from this program, I want you to focus even harder on your goal. Bring with you the things that you have learned from the program, use it to maximize your potential of success. Always remember that 4Ps has prepared you to be life-ready. If you keep that mind, you will win your battle against poverty.

To our very own City and Municipal Links, our Social Welfare Officers, the Provincial Links, and all field staffs, you are the true frontline warriors in this social welfare battlefield. I know how difficult and how stressful your job is, many times you go beyond your expected duties, you spent countless sleepless nights doing case managements and ensuring that every family is monitored and given appropriate intervention. For that, you deserve the best form of accolades. Words can never measure up to our appreciation to your efforts and hard-work. You all did a very good job!

May this day be a day of celebration and inspiration to all. Thank you for letting us be instruments of change, for letting us be part of your success, and for giving us the opportunity to touch lives in the most humble and genuine way.

 Once again, congratulations and continue to be champions in life.

RPC’s Message to 4Ps Graduates

My warmest felicitations to all graduates of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program. We have been together for the past decade and your accomplishments fill our hearts with so much fulfillment. This graduation is what we can consider as one of the highlights of the decade as we witness and reap the fruits of the program.

As you leave the comfort of Pantawid guidance, may you always remember the knowledge that the program instilled in you. Let this occasion be an opportune time for you to reflect on the beautiful experiences you have had with 4Ps that, in one way or another, have molded you to become strong, resilient, and ready for whatever life throws you.

Your journey with 4Ps ends here but the program and the Department will always be on the lookout for better services for you and other families that we may be of help to. Let this also be a challenge to you; a challenge that will serve as your propeller that will push you to do better, to reach higher, and to aim further.

4Ps has only shown you what you already have: the will, the determination, the help from the government and non-government agencies. It is up to you now to start acting on these things and brave the challenge ahead of you.

The road to a better quality of life is never easy, nevertheless, it is not impossible. You always have us by your side continuously guiding your way to your success. And with the help of a bigger coalition now between the LGU and other partner stakeholders, I personally know that you can reach your goals.

To the graduates, continue to be an emblem of excellence in your community. Be an epitome of what a 4Ps family is even when you are already alumni of the program.   

My desire is that when we meet again, you will be able to look back to your past with gratefulness and look forward to your future with confidence.

Congratulations and may your graduation be the beginning of more triumphs in your life.

People often think that in this generation, genuine kindness is something that you can only see in movies in film festivals. It is rare in real life as if it is a make-belief. One would argue that it must be scripted or staged to find a person who, despite having less in life, will share the little things he or she has with others. But one story from an old town in RT Lim, Zamboanga Sibugay Province would tell you a different picture of reality.

When Corona Virus hit the country in the early days of 2020 and lockdowns were imposed, the struggle is real for every one. Malls, restaurants, pharmacies, grocery stores were forcibly shut down for the safety of many. Undoubtedly, this precaution took a toll not only on the economy but also on the lifestyle and needs of many people. Food suddenly became a scarcity as many could not go out to earn a living for their daily needs, even for those who are in the forefront in protecting the people whom we call the ‘frontliners’; who continuously perform their sworn duties for the country despite the invisible yet fatal threat. The world was truly shaken to its core.

Seeing the situation unfold right before her eyes, Merlina Beborde Maderada, a 55-year old mother of 5 and a beneficiary of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), could not sit still knowing that people’s stomachs are mostly empty and they sacrifice their own safety for the common good of many.

CONCEPT PITCHING: LET US HELP

This is where the idea came to Merlina. As an active committee chairwoman at Sea Gentiles Christ Ministry, she knew that she had to do something. She convened her fellow members of the ministry and discussed to them her plans on helping out the community. The initiative was warmly embraced by the members and approved.

On April and May of 2020, Merlina and her group were able to distribute a total of 287 food packs and donated them to families who were directly affected by the implementation of safety measures in their municipality. Understandably, the first to be catered were the members of the ministry which they serve.

She was fulfilled to be able to be of help to her fellow ministry members. This drove her to do more and explore other things that she could do for others especially outside the ministry.

“Nakit-an nako nga bisan naay Covid, adunay mga tawo nga nagserve pa gihapon sa gawas kanang sa checkpoint mga sundalo, pulis, og mga tanod (I saw that despite the presence of Covid-19, there were people who continuously serve at checkpoints such as men in uniform and our barangay patrols),” Merlina said.

With the dedication of these men, Merlina thought to help them in ways she knows how.

NOW SHOWING : SERVING THE FRONTLINERS

Merlina knows that the duty of a frontliner is not like watching your favourite movie on a comfortable couch. In fact, it is far from that. Wearing protective gears under the scorching heat of the sun all day can be extremely difficult.

When her initiative with the ministry became successful, she thought it would be easier this time. But she failed to remember other factors that needed to be considered in performing her initiatives –money, resources, and manpower.

Now that she plans to help people outside the ministry, who would help her? How can she finance this initiative when she herself has no money?

It is a good thing and a blessing that she is compliant to the mandates of the 4Ps program especially on maintaining backyard and communal gardens. From these, she harvested some vegetables to give to the frontliners. She was able to donate okra, sprouted monggo, string beans and eggplant and firewood to the 11 front liners assigned at the checkpoint en route to barangay Calula.

Her gardens have helped her realize many of her visions such as helping the community and providing healthy staple foods on their plate. Literally, it also brought her to places that she knows she could never have gone to if not because of her gardens. In 2016 she was the representative to the vegetables congress held in Tacloban City. In 2017 she also representative their home town in the vegetables congress held in Cebu City.

“Kanang akuang garden nakatabang na sa amoa, sa akuang mga silingan, karon pati pud mga frontliners. Happy pud ko. (My garden helps us, it has also helped my neighbours and now it has helped the frontliners. I am glad),” Merlina shares her happiness to 4Ps city link.

NEXT PICTURE: MERIENDA NI MERLINA

It is not a secret in their little municipality that Merlina is a Kakanin or Merienda vendor. Many locals compliment her for her cooking skills. It can be considered as her expertise.

She used her expertise to help assuage the hardship that the frontliners experience while performing their duties. From her own pocket, she bought ingredients to cook and provide for the frontliners. Every three weeks, Merlina gives them mango pies, pancakes, and cold beverage (palamig) to thank them for their hardwork.

All of these, she does in the name of bayanihan or a custom of working together to achieve a common goal.

With this, Merlina feels like she does something for the community in this trying time of global pandemic. She thinks that her gesture is simple and small but to the people that she has helped, the idea of volunteering is already a big step that surely contributes to community healing.

“Kani lang pud ang pwede nako ikahatag labi na karon kay pandemic. Pasalamat mi kay naa ang 4Ps, wa mi naglisod kayo poreso murag kani na lang pud ang akoang ibalik para sa mga blessing og katabang na nadawat namo nga pamilya. (This is the only thing that I can contribute especially during the pandemic. I feel grateful that we are in the 4Ps program, at least the struggle is less that is why I do this as a give back for all the blessings that my family has received,)” Merlina says when asked why she started all of these initiatives.

Personally, Merlina is already content with her achievements in life. With the help of her husband who is a farmer, they were able to send their children to school and have 3 of her children graduate from college. 

She is the President of their Parent Leaders group and handles 11 parent leaders in her management.

In an article submitted to the New York Times back in 1862 when battles were rampant in the U.S it was concluded that the cause of rebellion was not because people of the south wanted to go against their government or to show power against those of the north. It was identified that slavery had been the cause of it – well not directly, it was the only form of bond of union they knew, a means to send a message, it showed strength and support within their group from beginning until the end. The same thing can be said today.

In the Philippines, Executive Order No. 70 signed by President Rodrigo Duterte which seeks to institutionalize the whole of nation approach mandating the creation of a Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (TF-ELCAC), one of its interventions in ensuring the former rebels (FRs) not return to its ways is the reception of livelihood assistance from the DSWD Sustainable Livelihood Program amounting to P20,000.00 each. This intervention hopes to achieve the holistic approach to improve the mental health and overall wellness of these FRs during their rehabilitation.

Down south of the Philippines, 63 FRs surrendered to the 53rd Infantry (MATAPAT) Battalion, majority of them are residents of District 1 and 2 from the province of Zamboanga Del Sur. Prior to receiving grants, all FRs stayed in their barracks inside the Battalion, located in Guipos, Zamboanga Del Sur.

To former rebel Ka Amihan he refers to former rebels as friends recued. This was said in a press conference arranged by the 1002nd Infantry Brigade in Magpet, North Cotabato as he calls out to his fellow former rebels. The FRs in Zamboanga Del Sur underwent the required psycho-social activity by the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO) and has availed the E-CLIP program of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) amounting to a total of Php 65,000 each in financial assistance.

One of the Friends Rescued, pseudonym Helen, residing in Barangay Kagawasan, Dimataling, Zamboanga Del Sur, married to a construction laborer and blessed with 2 children has been chosen as an SLP beneficiary. Helen stayed most of her time in a farm tending vegetables and root crops as their basic livelihood in the area. There have been times when they have experienced hunger, with no food to eat for her, her husband, and their children. With her husband’s inconsistent status of work, and their meager farm could not sustain both livelihood and food for them having no food to put on their table became a frequent problem.

During the orientation in preparation for the provision of livelihood assistance given by the DSWD-SLP, Helen’s proposed livelihood project was a sari-sari store. On November 18, 2020, she received the grant amounting to Php20,000.00. Initially, she wanted to use the grant to purchase a cow amounting to Php20,000. However she realized that it was difficult for her to earn an immediate income from cow raising especially when compared to their needs. She then decided to start the sari-sari store business as her original proposed project.

In this way, she can cater her neighbors’ basic necessities like canned goods, noodles, biscuits, sugar, and other menial groceries. It allowed her neighbors not to go further to buy groceries and spend extra for transportation to Pagadian City. Where the distance to travel to the two places takes two hours.

As of writing, her business is operational filled with a variety of grocery items. She maintained recordings of her transactions to avoid losses. She can earn around Php300 a day form her store. With her savings, she managed to buy a parcel of land in their area. And has also allocated money for emergency purposes like hospital expenses.

“Dako akong pagpasalamat sa 53rd Infantry Battalion og sa DSWD-SLP nga nagtabang kanamo pagpanginabuhi nga naluwas sa kagutom og kalisod. Daghan salamat sa tanan na gihatag ninyo na ayuda, nakatabang og dako sa amua,” heartily expressed by Helen.

“A big thank you to 53rd Infantry Battalion and to DSWD-SLP for helping us coping up with hunger and poverty. Thank you so much for giving us grants, it really helped us a lot,” heartily expressed by Helen.