“One rainy day, I was walking along the busy street of downtown Metro Zamboanga. The rain was pouring so hard and so was my emotion. I could not contain my emotion as I was looking at the children lying on the ground, sleeping on the corner of the street. Their small, frail bodies, enveloped by the cold weather were balancing between trying to get a decent sleep and trying to avoid the wet floor. My heart was broken seeing the situation. And then I knew what I wanted in life—to be an instrument that would spark change and bring alleviation to the lives of the marginalized.”

This moving situation touched the heart of Reema Agkah,25, and brought a spark to the path she clearly wanted to take. However, before being able to achieve her goal of extending a helping hand to the most vulnerable, her life, like other young Filipinos thriving and fighting for their dream, has been a roller coaster ride.

Reema, a then-monitored child of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), is the eldest of the five children of the Agkah couple who are both natives of Sulu.

Hailing from Zamboanga City, the Agkah family moved from one town to another in an attempt to look for a more sustainable source of income. From being part of the fisherfolk community of Tigtabon Island, her father started working as a laborer when they decided to move to Talon-Talon, Zamboanga City in 2000.

Reema’s parents strived hard to provide her and her siblings with their daily necessities, even if it meant setting aside theirs. Yet, they were still facing an impoverished situation, which Reema believed to have been caused by the lack of family planning in their household.

“I feared that we could not escape this cycle of poverty, and this would be the life that I was meant to live,” Reema said as she described their living status.

Despite all the hardships, her parents worked hard to make ends meet. In 2005, her father was able to save enough money to acquire a property in Sta. Catalina, Zamboanga City.

“But just when I thought our family will have better days ahead, fate suddenly took a turn,” Reema said, sharing the moment when her mom and siblings had to go back to Jolo, Sulu.

Reema was left in the city to pursue her primary school while her father continued to work as a laborer.

After being in such dire situation, Reema moved to Sulu, hoping that she would be reunited with her siblings and live more comfortably. However, she ended up going to school with an empty stomach as her allowance was insufficient. The worst part was that she was caught in the middle of an armed conflict in their area.

In 2012, the Agkah family went back to Zamboanga City where they were given a new lease on life. They were chosen to be one of the beneficiaries of 4Ps being supervised by Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

The 4Ps is a flagship program of the national government on poverty reduction and social development. It provides cash grants to extremely poor households to improve their health, nutrition and education, particularly of children aged 0-18.

The program invests in human capital to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty among poor households.

Under the 4Ps, beneficiaries with grade school children receive Php300 per month; high school children with P500 a month; and those in senior high school receive a monthly stipend of Php700.

On top of the children’s monthly school allowances, 4Ps also provides a Php500 monthly assistance for their medical and health needs.

According to Reema, the program helped them to procure their basic school needs through the educational grants provided under the program.

As 4Ps beneficiary, the family was also provided with other benefits like automatic membership to PhilHealth. In fact, when her father got hospitalized due to acute appendicitis, their hospital bills was paid for by the government.

In addition, Reema, being a 4Ps beneficiary, got a scholarship under the Unified Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education Act (UniFAST ), which helped her pursue a college degree in her dream university, the Western Mindanao State University.

Inspired by her experiences in life and her eagerness to help others who are also in difficult circumstances, Reema took Bachelor of Science in Social Work.

“I was still unaware of its essence but I know they help poor people. ‘Help poor people’ were the keywords for me to say yes,” she emphasized.

In 2022, Reema, through the help of the 4Ps, and other government assistance programs such as the UniFAST, graduated Cum Laude.

“I just wanted to express my heartfelt gratitude to everyone behind the country’s poverty alleviation program or the 4Ps and the people who are supporting its implementation,” she said.

Reema was among the millions of children monitored by 4Ps, who were once challenged by difficulties, but through the support on education, nutrition, and health from the program, coupled by her determination and perseverance, was able to pursue her dreams.

Today, Reema, being a graduate of social work, is closer to fulfilling her life’s purpose of becoming an instrument to spark a difference in the lives of the poor and marginalized sectors. #