RECIPIENTS of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) in Regions 4B and 7 were among successful board passers of the 2023 Civil Engineers Licensure Exams.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) made the announcement of the passers from Mimaropa and Central Visayas early this month.
Engr. Jiazel C. Mabunga—a 23-year-old daughter of a carpenter from Romblon—was a former 4Ps monitored child and had to live away from her family while studying in Manila. Due to their poverty and limited resources, she and her four siblings cannot attend school at the same time.
Mabunga narrated that when their household was not yet a beneficiary of 4Ps, it was extremely impossible for her and other siblings to study at the same time, and that someone had to stop and sacrifice.
Through the financial assistance from 4Ps, including the small earnings of her father and her mother who worked as a house helper, the Rombloanon was able to finish her studies at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.
Upon learning that she hurdled the licensure examinations, the DSWD commended Mabunga and her family for their contribution to the realization of one of the program’s goals of improving the lives of poor Filipinos via education.
In response to the agency’s congratulatory note, she acknowledged the DSWD’s 4Ps for continuously helping those in need, especially young people who aspire to obtain education, and wished that the program will continue to expand and benefit more people.
Mabunga advised 4Ps recipients to properly use the financial assistance from the government, and to study hard to achieve their dreams.
The DSWD Field Office in Central Visayas also named the 4Ps beneficiaries who successfully passed the licensure examinations. They are Engrs. Dannice Clue P. Quijano and Kimberly N. Salpocial from Bohol, Negros Oriental’s Engr. Vianne Kaye H. Rodriguez, and Engr. Kenneth M. Regodo from Lapu-Lapu City.
4Ps is a flagship program of the national government on poverty reduction that provides conditional cash grants to the “poorest of the poor” to help improve the health, nutrition and education of children.
To qualify for the program, identified poor and near-poor households or families must be willing to comply with the conditions and meet the following criteria: with a family member zero- to 18-years old, and/or with a pregnant family member at the time of registration.
As of December 2022 the 4Ps program covers a total of 3,798,151 active household-beneficiaries across 41,676 barangays nationwide.