Pagbabahagi ni Jerry Padohinog mula sa Tubungan, Iloilo
I am Jerry Padohinog, a native of San Joaquin, Iloilo. I was called “Ka Stanley” before and served as the acting team leader of a communist rebel group covering Panay–Negros areas since 1983. On the other hand, Virgie, a.k.a. “Ka May”, was also a member of the red fighters and served as a legal service staff.
After years of knowing each other, we fell in love. We kept our relationship hidden and later on both decided to covertly go out of the group to start our own family. We were only 21 and 18, respectively back then. We transferred to the mountainous area of Anini-y, Antique and hide our identities by using different aliases.
Hiding like a criminal is never easy. Almost every day, I fear for our lives. We struggled a lot while staying out there. We have no regular means of income and simply rely on available root crops at the area. When my wife gave birth to our first child, I could not even bring her to a health clinic since I was so afraid of being apprehended by the red troop or the military.
After a year, my wife decided to go back to her family in San Remegio, Antique where her family is resides while I continued hiding in Anini-y.
After a few months, I followed my wife despite being afraid of what’s waiting for me. Luckily, I am an unfamiliar face in the area.
It was difficult raising a family since we have no land to farm or livestock to take care of. I offer to help some farmers in exchange of rice and other foods. However, frustrated with the situation, I returned as a member of the rebel group to continue fighting against the government.
On the other hand, my wife opted to remain her distance from the group. She continued to stay in Aningalan to take care our children. At that time, we already had three children, having twins on her second delivery. I would leave them at night and would be out for a week or two.
My wife was always worried about me and she feared that I might die during our encounter with the military. One of the most tragic event of our lives happened in 1998 when one of the twins, Anamarie, died. My wife recalled the difficulty to access health services when our child got sick. She could not even afford to pay transportation vehicle from our barangay down to the town proper. This gave her nervous breakdown but cannot even bought a medicine for herself since we don’t have any money.
When everything seems to be falling apart, my neighbor informed me of the on-going enumeration being done by the DSWD, and they went in our house to conduct the interview.
In the later part of 2008, my wife and I both agreed to start a brand new life so we surrendered to the authorities in Antique. After a year, we were allowed to transfer in Tubungan, Iloilo where we were given a private lot to build our new nipa hut. My children transferred to another school in the municipality, while I was then given the chance to work as hired laborer at Engineering Department of the Tubungan Local Government Unity (LGU).
It was in 2011 when we became a member of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps). This greatly helped us in sending our children to school since it provided cash grants for the educational needs of our children. Through the program, my whole family were also able to access free health services.
As the grantee, I have attended various Family Development Sessions (FDS). The topics have enriched our parental capacity and even improved our outlook in life. In one session of the FDS, while listening to the Municipal Link, I silently got teary-eyed and emotional, because it has imparted remarkable awareness for me as a father, a husband, and a citizen of this country. It gave me hope that despite my past, there is a great chance of providing a good life and future for my children. It was comforting to know that I made the best choice of my life—leaving the red troop.
My children have strong perseverance to finish their studies. They find means on their own to also sustain their school needs. With all the ridicules and discriminations, these motivated them to push further and never give up.
In order to graduate, my daughter, Annabel worked part time to clean houses or wash clothes. Anabel has finally obtained her bachelor’s degree in Industrial Technology in 2017 and is now working as a domestic helper in Kuwait. On the other hand, my son, Justin, was employed through Government Internship Program of DOLE in the same year of 2017. After months of working in Assessors Office of LGU, he was absorbed and been employed as job order for months. He eventually ended his contract to continue going to school and currently, he is now on his 3rd year in college. Meanwhile, our 4th child, Sheila, is also on her 3rd year in college, while Alliana, the 5th child, is on her 2nd year. My eldest son, Jever is now working as utility worker at St. Therese Maritime College in Tigbauan, Iloilo, while the youngest, Jerry, is in Senior high school and the remaining monitored child of 4Ps.
With the learnings imparted from Pantawid Pamilya, we have our backyard garden following the Bio-intensive Gardening (BIG) program. The vegetables we harvest supplies our daily food needs. We no longer need to buy vegetables in the market. We also have fruit trees available at our backyard.
All these success could not have been possible without the assistance of the government. I am grateful for Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) which served as a gateway for our family to access more government programs and services. ###