EXEMPLARY CHILD. Richie Mae Napacia (4th from left) wins over other contenders during the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) Search for Exemplary Child, held in a mall in San Jose de Buenavista on May 30, 2024. Napacia said in an interview on Monday (June 3, 2024) that she is determined to finish school to help her family out of poverty. (Photo courtesy of Pantawid-Antique)
SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique – Children who are recipients of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) in Antique continue to dream big, determined to finish their education to provide their families the comfort they deserve.
Richie Mae Napacia, 12, from Patnongon town and the 2024 Pantawid Exemplary Child of Antique, graduated on top of her graduating class at the Aureliana Elementary School.
“I had to stay determined to earn good grades and finish my education in the future so that I could help my family get out from poverty,” she said in an interview on Monday.
She said their power line got disconnected several times because they could not pay their bill that she had to rely on candles for light while preparing for exams.
Napacia won the Pantawid Exemplary Child on May 30, a day before their graduation on May 31.
The search for the Pantawid Exemplary Child showcases model student beneficiaries who excel in their homes, schools, and communities.
Belen Gebusion, 4Ps Division Chief of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), said the annual search manifests and makes sense of the program, which is an investment in human capital.
Children develop their competitiveness and inherent capacity as individuals through the contest, Gebusion said.
“Children, through the search, are given a chance to showcase that they are worthy of the national government program,” she said.
Fhrynxz Theodore Chavez, who ranked second to Napacia, said he wants to build a concrete house for his parents in Libertad town.
“I dream to become an architect in the future so I could build a house for my parents,” he said.
Chavez, 12, is the eldest of the three siblings.
He shared that Typhoon Odette destroyed their bamboo house in Libertad in 2021, forcing them to evacuate.
Like Napacia, they also experienced lack of power for failing to pay their electrical bills and had to resort to candles or a flashlight when studying.
He also had to walk the 3-km. distance from Barangay Igcagay to the Libertad Central School in the town proper to save PHP30 a day for his fare.
Jeiah Belle Dubria, 11, from Barbaza town, said she wanted to become a lawyer despite their life status.
She finished third in the search.
“I want to become a lawyer to help those abused,” she said.
Dubria ranked first in their Grade 5 class in Tibiao Central School in Tibiao town. Without electricity, she relied on solar light when studying at night.
She used the grant she received during the past two years as a 4Ps beneficiary to buy school supplies and other needs.
Antique 4Ps Compliance Verification Officer Mae Antoinette Oblima said they are monitoring 53,171 4Ps children enrolled in various schools in the province for School Year 2023-2024.
Under the program, children in day care to elementary grades receive a monthly educational allowance of PHP300, while those in junior and senior high school get PHP500 and PHP700, respectively, released every two months.
“Compliant children should not have a maximum of four absences a month,” she said.
She also said that the monitoring ensures that children have a valid reason for their absences, for instance, if they are sick.
“There are already numerous 4Ps monitored children who finished school and work as professionals through the program's help,” she said. (PNA)
