Life is rarely easy. We may face hardships of different kinds and degrees, but hardship is a language we all understand.
Engr. Jojo B. Bacsa speaks that language fluently. The fourth of seven children born to Jovita and Romeo Bacsa of Canaman, Camarines Sur, he is also the first in his family to earn a college degree.
Before his mother joined the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), everyday life, in Jojo’s young mind, felt like the highest level of difficulty.
“Madalas po kami mangutang—kung hindi pera, minsan pagkain na lang sa tindahan,” he recalls.
Determined to stay in school, Jojo often chose the classroom over a full stomach.
“Naalala ko po noong Grade 2 ako, buti na lang may naitago akong limang piso. Binili ko ng biskwit at hati-hati kami yun po na po ang pamahaw (breakfast) namin,” he says, smiling at the memory and the resolve it took.
Everything changed the day their family became 4Ps beneficiaries under the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office V – Bicol Region.
“Hindi po ako nagyayabang, pero bilang anak ng isang benepisyaryo, ramdam ko po kung gaano kalaki ang naitulong ng programang ito sa amin. Nakakabili na kami ng grocery kaya hindi na kami pumapasok sa klase nang gutom,” Jojo explains.
With food on the table came the next miracle: notebooks and pencils—items that once felt like very distant dreams in the mind of young Jojo.
“Nagkakaroon kami ng pambili ng gamit sa paaralan—mga bagay na noon ay pinapangarap lang namin. Alam ko pong simpleng problema lang ito para sa mga mas may kaya, pero para sa amin, malaking tulong na ang makapasok sa eskuwela na may dalang papel at lapis,” he adds.
Just this February, Jojo passed the Mechanical Engineering Licensure Examination.
“Kung hindi dahil sa tulong ng programang ito noong mga panahong gipit kami, baka ibang Jojo ang kilala ninyo ngayon—hindi bilang isang Engineer,” he shares.
One sister now helps their parents financially, and his mother, Jovita, leads fellow 4Ps parents in their community.
The Bacsa family is just one of thousands of examples showing that the right mindset, steady effort, and a timely nudge from programs like 4Ps can turn distant dreams to reality. And to anyone who still doubts the impact of that statement, Jojo has only one thing to say:
“Let my license be the receipt.”