Growing up to a poor family is like being trapped in a dark room with no doors and windows. It’s also like running along the narrow and crooked path with no light to guide your way. It is suffocating and it will limit you in creating greater dreams for yourself.

I am Lovely Jen Silvoza Talikig, the daughter of Luzminda Silvoza Talikig and Emejem Villaflor Talikig. My mother has a small sari-sari store that she acquired from a loan while my father worked as a barangay councilor when he was still alive. As one of those individuals who belong to a big family with six children to take care of, we were one of the less fortunate in our community.

I found it hard to access good quality education that I deserve. The money that my mother earned from her small sari-sari store and my father’s salary as a barangay councilor weren’t enough to sustain our daily needs and it somehow became the reason why my three elder siblings weren’t able to finish college.

When I was in elementary, the news about the implementation of the K-12 program began to spread so my parents got worried because they knew that this would make basic education even more expensive and it would just worsen our situation. With this, my parents lost hope and doubted themselves if they could still afford sending us to school due to financial constraints. However, our situation did not stop me from dreaming. I aimed for bigger things even at a very young age. I studied well, aiming to finish my studies to help improve my family’s situation.

Fortunately, my family became one of the beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). From elementary until I reached senior high school, I was included in the first batch of children who were monitored by the said program in Bayabas, Surigao del Sur. 4Ps really helped me a lot especially in giving importance to my education and it made my life as a student much easier and sustainable.

When I was in college taking up Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, the grants sometimes helped pay my tuition fees. Since my mother was the only one left to raise us, the income of our small business was not sufficient, so the cash grants were utilized to support our education.

I can truly say that this program was a huge factor that my parents were able to send us to school until I finished my bachelor’s degree. I will forever be thankful and grateful to our government for establishing 4Ps for I know that it wouldn’t be possible to go this far if it wasn’t for the Program.

I am sincerely hoping that 4Ps will continue to prosper and promote the welfare of the marginalized groups in our country and will continue in providing aid to the less fortunate children of the future generations in order to have access to good quality education.

The former batang 4Ps who was once in a dark room, can now shed a light of inspiration to everyone who might need it. I am a living testimony that indeed, even the less fortunate ones can win the battles of life as well. With a combination of hard work, passion, determination, and a strong will to achieve your goals, you can definitely go far beyond what is expected from you – even graduating as Magna Cum Laude. ###(Social Marketing Section/DSWD Field Office Caraga)###(Social Marketing Section/DSWD Field Office Caraga)