Butuan City- The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office Caraga will host Padayag 2015 with its theme “Pagtatapos Nyo, Tagumpay ng Pilipino” on May 12.

This activity is expected to showcase top performing High School graduate Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries across Caraga Region.

“The event aims to recognize the efforts of Pantawid Pamilya student-beneficiaries in making it out despite poverty,” Regional Director Minda B. Brigoli, CESO III said.

On the event, exemplary students will be sharing their stories of success to inspire other student-beneficiaries to value education.

“This part of their student life is important not just for the program, but for the student-beneficiaries who are now closer to their dreams,” Brigoli added.

A total of 22,901 Pantawid Pamilya high school students around Caraga graduated this year. In Agusan del Norte, there are 4, 708 Pantawid Pamilya child graduates; 5, 465 in Agusan del Sur; 1, 628 in Dinagat Islands; 5, 107 in Surigao del Norte and 5, 993 in the province of Surigao del Sur.

“This event will serve as an avenue for our student-beneficiaries to be linked to opportunities beyond high school, such as vocational courses and college scholarships,” Brigoli exclaimed.

Pantawid Pamilya is a human development program that invests in the health and education of poor households primarily those with children aged 0-18. It provides cash grants to partner-beneficiaries who comply with the conditions of sending theor children to school, bringing them to heath centersn for check-ups, and attending the Family Development Session (FDS).

In 2013, the DSWD expanded the coverage of Pantawid Pamilya to include the 15-18 age bracket to ensure that the children-beneficiaries will graduate from high school and have a higher rate of employability.

Moreover, Pantawid Pamilya recognizes the need to extend support to its children-beneficiaries to further pursue the rights of children and enable the program to contribute in putting an end to the intergenerational cycle of poverty.

Also, a total of 42, 692 Pantawid Pamilya student-beneficiaries in elementary grade graduated this year (###SocialMarktingUnitRyanMalbasTapayan###).