Field Office IV-B (MIMAROPA)

“Pantawid Pamilya teaches us how to become better parents for our children.”

Pantawid Pamilya is not only about giving out cash to poor households but it is more about the values inculcated to every household it is reaching out to.

Three years of program implementation in the municipality of San Jose in the province of Romblon brought realizations to its beneficiaries. “Simula nung nagkaroon nito (Pantawid Pamilya) dito sa amin, dumami ang nagpapacheck-up ng mga anak nila dito sa aming health center. Pati mga buntis nagpapatingin din na dati hindi nila ginagawa.” (Since the start of the implementation of Pantawid Pamilya in our community, there has been a significant increase in the number of parents who bring their children to health center for check-ups. Moreover, pregnant mother now visit the health center for consultation which they never did during their previous pregnancies.) This is according to Flora Magalona, a barangay health worker and also a Pantawid Pamilya beneficiary in Brgy. Busay, San Jose, Romblon.

“Masaya na silang mamamatay na kahit pangalan nila, kaya nilang isulat,” said Marites Suarez. Age does not matter for one to learn. Learning is a never ending process. Marites is a teacher in the Alternative Learning System (ALS) of the Department of Education (DepEd) in Brgy. Cabigaan, Aborlan, Palawan. She has been teaching for 9 months now.

“Mahirap magturo lalo na at matanda ang tinuturuan mo.” One of her students is already 80 years old. She recounted her experiences when ALS started in their community. Her students could hardly write letters and even use pencil. Despite the hardships, she did not stop. By merely seeing her students try hard and seeing in them the enthusiasm to learn how to write boosts up her will to give it all for her students.

Marites belongs to Tagbanua, an Indigenous Peoples (IP) group mostly inhabiting Palawan. All her students are IPs who belong also to Tagbanua and some are Palaw-an, another IP group in the province. “Pag sinabi mong katutubo, ang iniisip ng iba mga mangmang yan, walang alam.” That encouraged most of her students to attend the ALS. Come election, most of them asks for assistance in writing who they want to vote. However, they are not fully comfortable about the idea that someone else has to write their ballots. This is another reason why despite their age, they still want to learn. They want to make sure that they write and they vote for the one they want.

Manila – DSWD being one of the agencies which advocates the fight against Violence Against Women (VAW) elected new set of officers for the Men Opposed to VAW Everywhere (MOVE). “MOVE is an organization of principled men whose members have dedicated themselves to be actively involved in eliminating all forms of discrimination against women particularly violence against women (VAW).”

“We (DSWD) cannot implement the program without your help as our partners,” said Purificacion R. Arriola, the Deputy Program Manager of Pantawid Pamilya, during the Rollout Training on the Enhanced Family Development Session Module held last March 20-24, 2012 at Hotel Indah, Manila. The Department of Social Welfare and Development is conducting a series of training for the Enhanced FDS module aiming to equip the Municipal Links and partners with skills and knowledge on conducting FDS for the beneficiaries of Pantawid Pamilya.

Attendance to Family Development Sessions is one of the conditionalities of the Pantawid Pamilya program. FDS is conducted once every month by Municipal Links or resource person from offices or organizations expert about the topic to be discussed during the session. FDS is designed for small group discussions such that of the cluster of beneficiaries with 25-30 members.

The municipality of Bulalacao in Oriental Mindoro, having the highest rate on malnutrition among children in MIMAROPA region, came up with an ordinance to help eradicate the malnutrition cases in the municipality. Through the initiative of the Municipal Advisory Committee (MAC), a Special Ordinance dubbed as Synchronized Deworming was enacted that would require all elementary public schools to conduct regular massive deworming during the months of July and November. Moreover, it was agreed that during those months, Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries will be monitored for their compliance on deworming which is one of the conditionalities of the program on health. Deworming should be done twice a year for children 6-14 years old. This ordinance was declared to promote sanitation, hygiene and principally the general health of children who needs special care and support from the government. A special composite committee known as Committee on Synchronized Deworming was also created to administer, supervise and monitor all deworming activities in the municipality. This ordinance was acted upon last April 25, 2011.

Malate, Manila – The Department of Social Welfare and Development Field Office IV-B MIMAROPA celebrated its 61^st Anniversary with the theme “DSWD @ 61: Tuloy-tuloy sa Kaunlaran” last January 31, 2012. It was attended by the regional and provincial staff with Usec. Parisya H. Taradji as guest of honor. According to Usec. Taradji, the theme should be translated to the development of the department’s beneficiaries. The development in the level of well being of every beneficiary should continue along the provision of the Department’s programs and services.

The highlight of the event is the awarding of Loyalty Award to employees who rendered services to the Department for years. The awardees are Ms. Priscila C. Contreras, Social Welfare Officer II (15 years), Mr. Domingo V. Agra, Project Development officer II (35 years) and Mr. Pedro Fran, Admin Aide I (25 years).

Also, Mr. Romeo Jambalos, Manpower Development Officer in Marinduque, was given recognition, for his 32 years of service to the Department and a tribute for his retirement. According to him, DSWD has given him knowledge, skills, and experiences that he needs to be a relevant citizen of the community he has been serving for almost half of his life.

Moreover, in line with the celebration is the launching of the wellness program for DSWD IV-B employees. This is to promote good health among the employees through various physical exercises. ### Vlaire Jane F. Formento

The Pantawid Pamilya regional and provincial staff gathered for the conduct of its year-end Program Implementation Review cum Team Building last December 19-21, 2011. It was participated by staff in the Provincial Operations Offices (POO) from the four clusters, namely: Oriental Mindoro, Palawan, Romblon, and the cluster of Occidental Mindoro and Marinduque and the RPMO. Aside from the presentation of annual accomplishment, the participants also presented the bottleneck in the implementation of the program. Some of the bottleneck that emerged during the discussion are issues on liquidation of disbursed grants, human resource, administrative issues, and lack in equipment and facilities in the provincial offices. Each problem which emerged during the discussion was given recommendations for resolution and for appropriate action of the RPMO.

In order to effectively address the problems cited during the activity, direct coordination and fast action should be observed both by the provincial and the regional office and also to avoid delays in the delivery of the services provided by the Pantawid Pamilya. Working hand in hand is the best strategy to achieve the program goals and to acquire a smooth and harmonized implementation of the program. ### Vlaire Jane F. Formento

Community assemblies were held simultaneously in five provinces in Region IV-B from November to December to register and validate potential beneficiaries for the expansion of the program by 2012. Along with the expansion, five new municipalities will be covered by the program resulting to 100% coverage in the provinces of Romblon, Occidental and Oriental Mindoro in terms of covered municipalities. The new municipalities are Gasan in Marinduque, Lubang, Mamburao, and San Jose in Occidental Mindoro, and Odiongan in Romblon. Moreover, municipalities included in the previous sets will increase in the number of beneficiaries such as Araceli, Coron, Rizal, Roxas, and Sofronio Espanola in Palawan, Sta. Cruz in Marinduque, Roxas in Oriental Mindoro, and Corcuera in Romblon.

A total of 24,666 potential beneficiaries based on the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) will be assessed if they pass the eligibility check requirement of the program. Registered beneficiaries for the recently concluded community assemblies will fall under Set 5 which will start implementation by 2012.

Pantawid Pamliya provides conditional cash grants to poor households intended for the health and education needs of children 0-14 years old. Every household is entitled to a maximum of P1,400.00 worth of cash grant for 1 month depending on their compliance to the conditionalities set by the program. Not only that the program provides cash grant but more importantly, the program conducts Family Development Sessions that could help the beneficiaries have a more fruitful and more meaningful relationship among their household members. ### Vlaire Jane F. Formento

By - WINNIE TANSINGCO

“Dahil sa Pantawid Pamilya, natuto kaming gumamit ng ATM (Because of Pantawid Pamilya, we learned how to use the ATM),” Corazon Nazario said. Corazon is a beneficiary of Pantawid Pamilya from the municipality of Bongabong, Oriental Mindoro. During the Convergence Caravan, an event organized by the Department of Social Welfare and Development Field office IV-B, Corazon enlightened the attendees on the gains she received from the program. Her being knowledgeable on how to use the ATM or the Automated Teller Machine struck the audience most.

Pantawid Pamilya utilizes various modes of payment depending on the most convenient mode for the beneficiaries in a certain municipality. Beneficiaries in the municipality of Bongabong are being catered through the cash card or commonly referred to as the ATM card. Beneficiaries withdraw their cash grants through the ATM once the grants are deposited to their accounts. “Akala po namin ganun ganun lang ang paggamit ng ATM. Kung di po siguro dahil sa Pantawid Pamilya, hindi kami matutong gumamit nun (ATM),” Corazon added.

More importantly, aside from learning how to use the ATM, Corazon also testified how the program helped their family and how they are guided to attain the mission of the program to promote good health and nutrition, and education status of the children and the family as a whole. ### Vlaire Jane F. Formento