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BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
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Tuesday, October 10, 2017
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ILOILO City – The family of a couple from Leon, Iloilo who used to be insurgents was hailed as this year’s national “Huwarang Pantawid Pamilya” besting finalists from 17 other regions.
Romulo and Remia Cabualan and four of their six children were feted during the National Family Day celebration at the Muntinlupa Sports Complex in Muntinlupa City, Metro Manila on Oct. 1. They received P30,000 cash prize and a plaque of recognition.
But more than the cash incentive and honor, Remia hoped her family could inspire other poor families to manage well the help that the government extends.
In 1984, Remia and Romulo, then not yet a couple, joined the New People’s Army. The cruelty and injustice they experienced under the Marcos dictatorship drove them to go underground.
They fell in love while in the underground movement and in 1992 decided to leave so they could raise a family.
“Waay ko gin-expect nga mangin No. 1. Waay man ako nag-expect sang amon mabaton. Ang akon katuyoan sa pag-intra nga ang kasaysayan ko sa kabuhi makabulig ukon maka-impluwensya sa pareho ko man nga pigado,” said Remia at a forum that the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Region 6 organized recently.
Remia’s family is a beneficiary of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps). She said it helps send her children to school.
In 1995, Remia and Romulo availed themselves of amnesty offered by the government and underwent community integration. Two years after, they eventually decided to get married.
Under the Balikatan integration program of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the couple became beneficiaries of a carabao from the Department of Agriculture and a livelihood startup capital of P10,000 which they used to raise a hog.
They also became volunteers promoting peace and development in their community through the Commission on Human Rights.
In 2011, their family became a 4Ps beneficiary.
Two of the couple’s children already graduated from college, one is in third year college while the three others are in high school.
“Through the 4Ps, nag-ayo-ayo ang amon pangabuhi. Ang indi ko mabakal sa akon mga kabataan sang una, subong maaguman na nila bisan paano,” said Remia.
But Remia and Romulo did not just depend on the cash grants. They accepted jobs that were offered such as becoming contractual laborers under the Trabahong Lansangan – a joint program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Department of Public Works and Highways.
Remia called on other 4Ps beneficiaries to use well their 4Ps benefits.
“Patikangon naton sang husto. Ang para sa kabataan, ihatag sa kabataan. Ako nagapati nga ini nga program kag prebilihiyo damo pa mabuligan nga mga pigado nga pamilya,” she said.
Their win as model 4Ps family is a challenge to continue inspiring other poor families to do better, stressed Remia.
Other winners in the national search came from Negros Oriental, Davao del Norte (Region 11), Quezon province (Region 4) and Siquijor (Region 7).
The search for model 4Ps family is an annual activity that aims to document the positive impacts of the program. (With a report from Montesa Griño-Caoyonan, DSWD-6/PN)
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