Cagayan de Oro City — Rene Liboon Principe, Jr. and his family almost drowned to death when Tropical Storm Sendong inundated Northern Mindanao on December 16, 2011.

The Principe family, a beneficiary of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, was among the families affected by the flash flood brought about by heavy rains.

Rene Jr.’s father, Rene Sr., woke them up when the water was knee-high inside their house in Zone 4, Pasil, Barangay Kauswagan, which is along the city’s main river. The water eventually reached roof gutter level. The Principe family witnessed how the raging flood water rushed down the village.

The flood destroyed their house and left knee-deep mud.

They hurriedly went to an evacuation center established by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) some five kilometers away from their house.

Rene Jr. recalled that life inside an evacuation center was hard, considering the cramped space and long lines for food and non-food supplies.

Resiliency 

Rene Jr. was a freshman student of the Regional Science High School  when ‘Sendong’ devastated Northern Mindanao. ‘Sendong’ submerged all  of Rene Jr.’s  books and other school supplies.

But he did not let the unfortunate event get in the way of achieving his dreams. He continued to excel in his classes.

The cash grants provided by Pantawid Pamilya and other interventions from DSWD as well as the donations of local and international humanitarian organizations have helped Rene and his family return to normalcy  after those trying times.

Focus on achieving dream

Rene Jr., youngest among the five Principe siblings, did not stop working to realize his dream in life, which is to become an astronaut someday.

Impossible as his dream may seem, Rene Jr. said he does his best to become a spaceman.

He has been a consistent honor student since his elementary years. This year, he graduated from high school as top one of his class.  All throughout his high school years, he was a scholar of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).

Being a top achiever, Rene Jr. received various offers for scholarships from private universities in the city.

However, he opted to continue his college studies at the University of the Philippines (UP) in Diliman, Quezon City where he will take up Bachelor of Science in Physics. He will continue to be a scholar of DOST while in UP.

Thankful 

“Nagpapasalamat ako sa DSWD sa pagtulong sa mga mahihirap na kagaya namin.  Natugunan namin ang mga pangangailangan ko sa paaralan lalo na ‘yung mga laboratory requirements dahil sa Pantawid Pamilya. Kaya namin ang pagbabago  dahil alam namin na may kaagapay kami mula sa gobyerno (I would like to thank DSWD for helping poor families like us. I was able to comply with all the projects and buy laboratory requirements because of Pantawid Pamilya. We know we can  achieve change with the help of the government),”  Rene Jr. said.

“Nagpapasalamat din ako kay Pangulong Aquino sa patuloy na pagpapatupad ng programa sa kabila ng mga batikos (I also thank President Aquino for implementing the program despite the criticisms),” he added.

Rene Jr. appealed to critics to look at the fruits of the Aquino administration’s projects.

Pantawid Pamilya is a human development program that invests in the health and education of poor families, primarily those with children aged 0-18. It provides cash grants to partner-beneficiaries who comply with the conditions of sending their children to school, bringing them to health centers for checkups, and attending the monthly Family Development Sessions (FDS).

In 2013, the DSWD expanded the coverage of the program to include the 15-18 age bracket to ensure that the children-beneficiaries will graduate from high school, and have a higher rate of employability.

DSWD Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman commended the many Pantawid Pamilya student-beneficiaries who graduated with honors like Rene Jr., saying that not even poverty or typhoons like ‘Sendong’ can undermine the determination of the young beneficiaries to pursue their dreams.