“Kami ay naging benepisyaryo ng Pantawid Pamilya. Sa aming pagiging benepisyaryo maraming oportunidad na nagbukas, sinikap naming matuto at in-apply ang aming mga natutunan para may pagbabago ang aming buhay.”

Such is how Milca Magcosta, 40, a former grantee of the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) described how the program has helped her family realize a seemingly unreachable dream of starting their own family business.

Seven years hence, Milca’s family, from Anahawan, Southern Leyte, is now the proud owner of a meat shop, a mini-grocery and a newly-opened food hub.

Prior to becoming a 4Ps beneficiary, Milca and her family relied on fishing as their main source of income. While her husband, Jill, would brave the unruly seas each day, Milca was as occupied, being a full-time housewife and mother to her six children.

Living under the roof of their uncle’s old house, disasters constantly made them vulnerable and tightened their already constricted income.

Financial challenges, however, was no stranger to Milca as in her younger years, she was forced to work to make both ends meet.

“Taong 1995 hanggang 1996, nag-aangkat din ako noon ng mga puto tsaka biko para ibenta nung elementary, nung nag high school naman ako nag self-supporting din as helper sa karinderia sa umaga tapos papasok ako sa tanghali pagkatapos po ng mga gawain,” Milca narrated, referring to her small strides while she was in Metro Manila but were cut short when she went back to her hometown in Southern Leyte and got married.

Milca often hoped that she could open her own business to earn extra income for her family, but it had remained a wishful thinking for the longest time as her household responsibilities and lack of capital held her back.

That was until 2013 when a ray of hope shed light on their family and they became one of the qualified beneficiaries of the 4Ps in their town.

The cash grants they received from the 4Ps helped the Magcosta couple to provide for their children’s basic needs as well as for their educational expenses.

“Dahil sa 4Ps, natulungan po talaga kami sa ilang taon na kulang na kulang kami sa lahat ng pangangailangan dahil nga rin po sa magkakasunod na panganganak kaya talagang hirap dahil hindi po kasi kasya talaga ang income ng isang mangingisda para sa isang pamilya na maraming anak,” Milca said.

Milca then diligently attended the 4Ps Family Development Sessions (FDS) and took the lessons on basic entrepreneurship to heart, driven by the idea of starting a family business someday.

Fortunately, another golden opportunity knocked on the Magcosta’s door as they qualified for the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP), the DSWD’s livelihood program that also prioritizes 4Ps beneficiaries.

Milca and the other SLP beneficiaries in their community established an Agrivet Store with the start-up income provided by the program. Eventually, the Magcostas saved up and later grew their own meat shop business.

For a time, things had been looking bright for everyone in the family, until they faced yet another challenge when the children got hospitalized. At that time, the family’s earnings from the business could barely cover for the bills and medicines of the children.

The incident took a toll on their finances. But for Milca and Jill, who want nothing but the best for their family, giving up is not an option. The husband and wife team eyed for a bigger meat shop and invested in livestock so that they can ramp up their supplies.

As recalled by Milca, their business ventures were marked by bold moves, and perhaps had always been a series of taking risks, particularly when Jill quit fishing and focused on helping out at their meat shop.

But their decision on taking risks paid off when their humble business branched out into a mini grocery store and food hub that eventually enabled them to build their own house.

“Sa meat shop at grocery namin ngayon nasa Php 40-50k ang regular income, nakadepende sa sales pero dahil dito natutugunan namin ang pangangailangan ng bawat miyembro ng pamilya,” Milca shared.

Everything had fallen into place as two of their children who are in college qualified for the Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES) of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).

The TES program under the Free Education Law or Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act of 2017 (RA 10931) provides financial assistance to poor households, including 4Ps beneficiaries.

Meanwhile, their four other children are also in high school and elementary.

Aside from her own children, Milca said she is also able to send her two nieces to school.

With significantly improved living conditions, the Magcostas already exited from the 4Ps in 2020 and sailed unto the next chapter of their lives.

Their graduation from the program is a testament that no help is too small for people whose perseverance to improve their lives is bigger than their fears and worries.

Milca said her family owes their success to the 4Ps and SLP, which served as their partners on their way to the top.

“Napakalaking tulong ang 4Ps pandagdag ng pagkain at panakip sa butas ng kakulangan sa income naming mag-asawa. Dagdag na tulong ang SLP sa kaalaman at experience namin sa pagpatakbo ng negosyo,” Milca said as she expressed her gratitude to the DSWD programs that helped her family reach that once elusive dream.

The 4Ps is a national poverty reduction strategy institutionalized under Republic Act No. 11310 or “An Act Institutionalizing Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps)” signed on April 17, 2019. It puts a premium on giving indigent families the means to break-away from the intergenerational cycle of poverty through human capital investments.

To date, the program has close to 4.3 million household-beneficiaries nationwide.

The SLP is also one of the core poverty reduction programs of the DSWD that helps improve the participants’ socio-economic conditions by accessing and acquiring necessary assets to engage in and maintain thriving, sustainable, and resilient livelihood.

The program operates in two tracks: Micro-Enterprise Development (MD) Track and Employment Facilitation (EF) Track.

The MD track focuses on the establishment of microenterprise through provision of financial capital, enhancement of skills, and building / re-building physical and natural assets.

The EF track provides assistance to qualified member/s of poor households who preferred employment rather than engaging in microenterprise.

The Magcosta family is among the over 2.4 million 4Ps beneficiaries nationwide that has been assisted by the SLP since the program started in 2011. #