For some indigent people, their status in the society has been keeping them from speaking up for themselves and their fellow tribe members.
However, mothers from the beneficiary households of the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (DSWD 4Ps), are learning how to become leaders in their small communities.
“I used to be timid and I don’t easily speak with other people but the training and lectures on women empowerment, moral boosting and other learnings have given me the self-confidence, the spirit to join organizations and meet with people,” Beverly Sacyafen, a 4Ps parent leader in Barangay Asin here, said in Ilocano Friday during a 4Ps program aired over a local radio station.
As one of three parent leaders in her community, she assists 60 4Ps household beneficiaries in her group.
“As a parent leader, I hold meetings with my group and that boosted by fighting spirit,” Beverly said.
She was appointed as parent leader in 2018 and since then, she has been attending different seminars that boost her knowledge and capabilities, helping her to properly guide the members of her group.
There are about 56,000 4Ps household beneficiaries in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), that are being led by 2,394 parent leaders. Of the number, only 141 are male.
The parent leader helps trickle down information from the DSWD to the members.
Because of her active involvement, Beverly was also appointed as president of the women’s organization in her community.
“The 4Ps program has helped me a lot as a person and as a mother handling the finances of the family. The funds we receive and the education assistance to my children is helping a lot for my children to pursue their education,” she said.
As a leader, she said she must listen to her members, talk things out and “we meet halfway.”
Beverly has five children, two of them in college. Due to financial difficulties when they were not yet 4Ps beneficiaries, she had to send her eldest child to her in-laws, as she and her husband could not provide for all their needs.
Klarisa Natavio, social worker II and the 4Ps women and family focal person of the DSWD-CAR, said they have several stories of parent leaders becoming village officials, while some become health or nutrition workers after graduating from the program.
She said that beneficiaries must attend the monthly family development sessions conducted by the DSWD. This ensures that the families are reminded of their obligations to the program, such as complying with the family health and education requirements to remain beneficiaries.
Launched in 2008 and institutionalized by Republic Act 11310 in 2019, the 4Ps is the national poverty reduction strategy and human capital investment program that provides conditional cash transfer to poor households for a maximum period of seven years to improve their children’s health, nutrition and education.
Lectures are also provided to help strengthen family bond. There are also lectures about cybercrime, artificial intelligence and other information to boost the knowledge of the families and parent leaders.
“We had lots of stories about parent leaders joining the barangay politics because they have emerged as leaders in their communities. They have developed themselves and their capabilities, which makes them capable of handling a bigger group, the barangay,” Natavio said. (PNA)
