“Hindi lang naman pera ang ipinagpapasalamat ko sa Pantawid. Marami kaming natutunan sa Pantawid Pamilya. Natutunan naming makipag-kapwa, importante iyon sa negosyo. Nagkakaroon kami ng tiwala sa aming sarili,” shared Layla. (Yes, we are thankful for the money. But it goes beyond that. Through the program, we learned how to deal with people, which is important in business. We learned to believe in ourselves.) 

In the statement of National Democratic Front of the Philippines – Southern Mindanao published in The Mindanao Examiner last February 17, 2012, they described the Pantawid Pamilya as sham, oppressive and lulls the masses into subscribing the mendicant mentality. However, many beneficiaries like Layla, are not just grantees but are also partners in development. Through her statement, Layla affirms the dignity of the poor like her and expresses her understanding of the empowerment philosophy behind Pantawid Pamilya.

Layla is a parent leader of the Pantawid Pamilya. Her experience as a parent leader of the program has boosted her confidence to apply for the Self-Employment Assistance – Kaunlaran (SEA-K) loan together with her parent-group members to which they are now beneficiaries. SEA-K is aimed at enhancing the skills of the poor for them to be capacitated to handle micro-enterprise by providing them a start-up capital of up to P10,000 for their livelihood project. It is non-collateral and interest-free, payable in 2 years. It is intended as skill enhancement for them to have access to formal lending institutions. This will enable them to yield higher capital to finance their growing micro-enterprise once they graduate from CCT. 

As part of the transition strategy, beneficiaries who have been assessed to be eligible to receive livelihood or employment intervention are provided with SEA-K to help them become self-sufficient when they graduate from the Pantawid Pamilya after five years.

"Bago dumating ang SEA-K, konti lamang ang mga babaeng marunong humawak ng negosyo. Nagpapasalamat ako dahil sa SEA-K, nakapagsimula ako ng sarili kong negosyo sa pamamagitan ng pagbebenta ng banana chips," Layla shared. (Before the SEA-K program, not a lot of women in Bongabong knew how to handle business. I am thankful that because of SEA-K, I was able to start my own business by selling banana chips.)

DSWD maximizes its three major poverty-reduction programs through a convergence strategy for a holistic and sustainable approach in promoting development and battling poverty. Pantawid Pamilya invests in human capital of poor children; KALAHI-CIDDS augments the funding for health and educational facilities to meet the supply requirements of the former and; Sustainable Livelihood provides micro-enterprise and guaranteed employment to Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries for sustainability. Through this strategy of the department coupled with convergent efforts with other agencies as well as private sectors, we show that we trust that the poor maximize services of the government in order to improve their lives.