At Barangay Colongcogong, Caramoan, Camarines Sur, beneficiaries of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program of Department of Social Welfare and Development leads the way to easily access medicines to their community folks.

Over the past years, all residents in the community have no access to medicines. With this, they resorted for alternative medicines and herbals to cure for their ailing children and parents.

“Kaipuhan me pa po magtravel nin harayo, magbangka, asin magbalyo sa kaatubang mi na probinsya sa San Andres, Catanduanes para makabakal nin gamot [I needed to travel long distances, ride on a boat and cross in our neighboring province in San Andres, Catanduanes to buy for medicines],” said Ningning C. Dizon, 35, resident.

According to Ningning as she is fondly called-off by her neighbors, since then, it had been their cry until the government reached their community. “Sa tabang po nin Pantawid Pamilya nakaisip kami na mag-kaigwa nin 4Ps botika para makatabang sa gabos na pamilya digdi [Through the help of Pantawid Pamilya we were able to put up a 4Ps botika to help every family here],” she added.

Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or conditional cash transfer is a program that invests in human capital that is contributory to poverty-reduction. It provides cash grants of P500 in health and P300 (elementary) or P500 (high school) in education for a family that has three children, ages 0-18, enrolled in the program.

Putting it up

It all started in a Family Development Session (FDS) – a monthly activity being conducted under the said program that serves as a venue for educational, interpersonal, interactive and adult learning engagement that aims to empower and strengthen the relationship and ties among family members and the community.

“Saro sa mga topic me sa FDS po ay kung ano ang pangarap mi sa samuyang pamayanan, kaya naisip mi na magkaigwa na kaini [One of the topic in FDS is our dream in our community which made us think of organizing this],” said Rossi Ortiz, one of the beneficiaries who lead the project.

Since the value of health is also being inculcated to the recipients of the program, the beneficiaries identified and agreed to put up the said botika reaching every household in the community.

“Nagtanom kami ki gulay sa bakuran mi tapos sa mga bakanteng lote para kumita na nagsilbi man na pambakal mi nin gamot tapos pinapabakal mi [We plant vegetables in our backyard and in vacant lots to earn. Then, our earnings serve as our fund to start to buy medicines and sell it],” Rossi said.

Starting a capital of P500 they were able to buy some sorts of medicines like paracetamol, ibuprofen, mefenamic acid, antibiotic, salbutamol and carbocistein, which help to cure simple illnesses like flu, fever, colds, cough, migraine, heart burn and stomach aches.

“Nagpasalamat kami ta grabe an tabang kaini sa samuyang pamilya, [We are thankful because it helps a lot to our family],” Rossi added.

Expanding and Plans

At present, they (beneficiaries) tried to expand their botika by selling school supplies and foot wears.

In addition to their capital, they also continuously plant vegetables to raise their current savings of P5,000. “Balak mi po na padakulaon pa ini ta pangarap mi po na magka-igwa ki water system. Mahirap po an tubig mi digdi ta isla po an barangay mi [We plan to raise more money because we also dream to have a water system. Water is difficult here since we are an island barangay],” Ningning said with full of determination.

Lending Help

Apart from the health benefits that the botika provided to the residents, last December 2012, they (beneficiaries) shared their blessings through conducting gift giving activity in the community.

“Nagtao po kami ki mga school supplies, grocery items sa 46 non-pantawid beneficiaries para ibalik man ang mga natangap mi na blessings sa kapwa mi po. Ma-ugma po na makatabang [We give school supplies and grocery items to 46 non-pantawid beneficiaries to return back the blessing we received. We are happy to help],” Ningning humbly said.

Here, the resident made a conscious effort of using their resources to help their community, they see’s their social responsibility in order to attain development. As Ningning stated “Kung aasahan mi po kaya su cash grant na titao samuya, talaga kulang po ito sa pagkabuhay mi. Kaya dapat sabayan nin pagpursige na guminhawa ang buhay [If we will only rely on the cash grants provided to us, truly it will not suffice our daily needs that is why we need to add perseverance to improve our life],” she ended.***GANLindio, Pantawid Information Officer