A TOTAL of 32 poor families from San Jose de Buenavista in Antique were declared graduates of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, according to the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

Belen Gebusion, division chief of DWSD-Field Office 6, congratulated the graduates last March 25 in a ceremony held in the municipality of Anini-y.

“The graduates had been enrolled in the Pantawid Program for the past nine years but their social and economic development has somehow improved after their children earned their degrees,” Gebusion said.

The graduates, according to Gebusion, received cash grants from the national government for the education and health needs of their children.

Even if they are no longer beneficiaries of the program, Gebuison urged them to continue the values they’ve learned from their Family Development Sessions.

“Continue to be responsible parents to your children and try to transmit the other values you have learned from the FDS to your children and the next generation,” Gebusion said.

Ryan Sumugat, one of the scholars of the Pantawid Expanded Student’s Grants-in-Aid Program for Poverty Alleviation, said he was proud to be a Pantawid beneficiary.

Sumugat earned his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Antique and is currently preparing for his board examination.

Anini-y Mayor Maxfil Policar, on the other hand, said the 4Ps program improved the lives of his constituents whose children have completed their studies, most even earning their university degrees.

“Your graduation in the 4Ps program may mean that your cash grants being received have already stopped, but see already the fruits of your labor,” Policar said.

“The municipal government, as well as the provincial government through the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office, would still assist the households in terms of skills training for their livelihood,” he added.

Jeffrey Gabucay, Pantawid provincial operations officer, said the program is just the beginning as 774 families in Antique are set to graduate from the 4Ps.