Butuan City-The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office Caraga will hold another joint regional wide-activity, the search of exemplary child and Huwarang Pantawid Pamilya on August 2015.

Each province is ought to submit three (3) entries, two (2) for the search of exemplary child, and one (1) for the search of Huwarang Pantawid Pamilya.

Huwarang Pantawid Pamilya being one of the major yearly activities of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program aims to recognize family-beneficiaries of the Program who maintain strong family ties, demonstrate positive Filipino values, and have a positive impact in the community where they reside. At a similar time, the Regional Search for Exemplary Child aims to recognize exemplary Pantawid children who serve as excellent examples in their households, schools and communities, and encourage children to be active citizens.

Regional Director Minda B. Brigoli, CESO III relayed that these joint activities were developed to amplify the Kaya Ko ang Pagbabago campaign of the DSWD.

“It is a campaign for the support of key stakeholders on the convergence of programs and services as contribution to the positive changes and development in the lives of the poor and the vulnerable,” Brigoli said.

“As one of the key stakeholders of Pantawid Pamilya, every Filipino family plays an important role in the implementation of the campaign. It is important that they get equipped into reaching their full potentials as members of a society,” Brigoli added.

The competition is open to all Pantawid Pamilya partner-beneficiaries across Caraga Region.

For the Regional Search of Exemplary Child, the field office is looking for a child that inhibits the following qualifications: *a child whose age ranges from 10 to 13 by September 2015, *exposed in the program for at least one (1) year, *enrolled in school, *compliant to school attendance requirement of the program- must have at least 90% school attendance from school year (SY) 2012-2013, *with good scholastic standing- no grade below the passing mark, non-repeater, *fully immunized, *dewormed twice during the year preceded by the competition, *possess academic excellence in learning areas in the curriculum, *active in co-curricular activities, *talented, *with good moral character and have no indicator of behavior problems, *aware of good nutrition, *conversant on the conditionalities of the program, *shows gender sensitivity, *able to advocate the thrusts of Kaya Ko ang Pagbabago campaign, *and the children should be recommended by community leaders, a teacher, or even by parent groups or by church groups.

On the other hand, the office enlist the following qualifications for the search of Huwarang Pantawid Pamilya: *a Filipino family who is a beneficiary of the program for at least two years [mother, father and a child/children or a solo parent with child/children, or IP families with practice of polygamy can be nominated], *a family who has good standing in the community with no derogatory records and has not been convicted of any administrative, criminal, civil case or cases involving moral turpitude in the last five years, a family whose income is not derived from gambling, prostitution, child labor, extortion and other similar illegal resources, and *a family with 100% compliance in all conditions.

“This competition is an avenue for us to encourage our partner-beneficiaries to be responsible not only in complying with the conditionalities and ideals of the program but more so in becoming outstanding citizens who will be emulated by other children or families in their respective communities,” Brigoli closed.

The winners of the regional competitions will serve as the official representatives of DSWD-Caraga to the National event. They will also serve as ambassadors of Pantawid Pamilya in the Region, resource persons in Family Development Sessions (FDS) and in any Pantawid Pamilya activities where they could share their knowledge and experience, help in the advocacy efforts of Pantawid Pamilya, attend press conferences, and among others.

Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program is a human development program of the Philippine Government that invests in the health and education of Filipino children belonging to poor households. on its 8th year of implementation in the Region, Pantawid Pamilya expanded its coverage to children up to 18 from the original 0-14 years old. This is to further pursue the rights of every child and enable the program to contribute to ending the inter-generational cycle of poverty (###DSWDFieldOfficeCaragaSocialMarketingUnit###).