Cabadbaran City – Unmindful of the heavy downpour and cold weather, the 1,500 beneficiaries of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program converged at the city gymnasium on Saturday, February 11, 2012 to receive their Pantawid Pamilya cash cards.

The distribution was attended by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Regional Director Mercedita P. Jabagat; Chief of Operation Division, Ms. Angelita B. Amista; Pantawid Pamilya Regional Project Coordinator, Ms. Alma Patron; Provincial Link Officer of Agusan del Norte, Ms. Shalom Dapar; Landbank of the Philippines (LBP) Cabadbaran branch Operation Supervisor Ms. Nelly Aguilar together with some LBP tellers and barangay captains.

Ms. Nelly Aguilar oriented the beneficiaries using a power point presentation on how to use the cash card.  Willing to learn the steps, the beneficiaries listened attentively to her presentation.

DSWD Regional Dir. Jabagat in her message, encouraged the beneficiaries to spend the money to its intended purpose – children’s school needs and nutrition. In her speech, Dir. Jabagat reminded the beneficiaries that the program is not a dole-out because there are certain conditions that they need to comply with. “This cash grant is not the answer to all your financial problems, this is given to you by the government to assist your daily needs and we hope that after 5 years you will be able to lift yourselves from poverty and you will be able to find work or other means of livelihood for your family,” said Dir. Jabagat.

The beneficiaries’ persistence in waiting inside the gymnasium despite the cold and heavy rain pays off when Director Jabagat announced that the National Project Management Office (NPMO) of Pantawid Pamilya has already downloaded their cash grants for the last two periods of 2011.

Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program is one of the flagship programs of the government for poverty reduction and also a respond of the government to the Millennium Development Challenge. # # # (Social Marketing Unit)