TACLOBAN CITY– A Bajao youth who was a former monitored child of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is now the pride of the indigenous people’s community in Bato, Leyte.
This after Jeraldyn Bansale finished her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) in 2022 from the Bato Institute of Science and Technology, in the same town.
With this accomplishment, Bansale has proven that completing education among poor indigenous peoples of the Bajao community is possible with perseverance and determination, the DSWD said in a statement.
Despite the financial constraints and challenges her family faced, Bansale saw education as the key to breaking the cycle of poverty and providing a brighter future for herself and her loved ones, it added.
“Due to the poverty that we are experiencing, I chose to strive and complete my education to help my parents. Also, to assist my siblings in their needs, especially in their education,” Bansale said, as quoted by the DSWD.
In finishing her education, Bansale said the DSWD’s 4Ps was a significant factor for her family since she was able to use the cash grants for meeting her school requirements, transportation expenses, and other needs, adding that the family development sessions also taught her family some ‘valuable insights.’
The Bansale family became a 4Ps beneficiary in 2014.
“My family learned a lot from the topics in the Family Development Session as they also learned the importance of saving, budgeting, and the value of money,” she said.
According to DSWD Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs and co-spokesperson Irene Dumlao, the DSWD remains committed to helping marginalized families, especially indigenous peoples, by delivering programs and services such as the 4Ps that will help uplift their lives.
“The DSWD is providing all the needed assistance to help our kababayans from the indigenous peoples’ sector by providing necessary interventions that will enable them to become empowered and productive citizens, with the prime consideration of their culture and heritage,” she said.
The 4Ps is the flagship program of the national government on poverty reduction and social development implemented by the DSWD.
With around 4.4 million household beneficiaries, the 4Ps program provides conditional financial assistance to the most economically challenged families, fostering improvements in health, nutrition, and education.
(LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)
