Thus enthused Hubert Y. Licdom, a Pantawid Pamilya student of Papaya Elementary School, Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya,  during the launching of the Aruga at Kalinga sa mga Bata sa Barangay or Foster Care in the Barangay (Aruga for brevity)  project of the Department of Social Welfare and Development on March 12, 2015.

Hubert’s grateful remarks stem from the difficulty that he endured along with other students of the said school in going to and from school by foot for two hours since they live in one of the farthest “sitio” of Kasibu.

Aruga at Kalinga sa mga Bata sa Barangay is a program of DSWD which aims to provide a planned substitute parental care to abandoned, neglected and other children in need of temporary parental care. The children which may be placed under the care of foster families may either come from the centers or institutions or referred/rescued from the community or street with the active participation of the concerned   Local Government Unit.

This rationale of the program was replicated by the Local Government Unit of Kasibu, headed by Mayor Alberto D. Bumolo, Jr., by entering into a Memorandum of Agreement with DSWD for its implementation under the Bottom Up Budgeting (BUB) projects.

Under this program, a pool of 10 licensed foster families who live within the school zone, takes care of 11  Pantawid Pamilya students with some of them being  relatives of the beneficiaries.  The foster families as well as the student-beneficiaries receive a monthly subsidy under the program. On weekends, the student-beneficiaries go home to their respective families. On the other hand, the Municipal Link assigned to the area submits a quarterly report on the  progress of  the implementation of the project

Barangay Papaya was identified as the pilot area for Aruga because of the distance of the student-beneficiaries’ homes from the school.

“Pagdating nila sa room, natutulog sila kasi napagod sila sa halos 2 oras na paglalakad. Hinahayaan ko na lang silang matulog kasi alam kong pagod sila at gutom. Pagdating ng tanghalian, uuwi na sila kasi wala na silang pagkain kasi kinain na nila sa daan,” recounts  Mrs. Rosalia D. Licdom, Grade 5 and 6 Teacher and a licensed Foster Parent to two beneficiaries.

Initial steps for the replication of this project began in  January 2014 with identification of a barangay, prospective foster families as well as orientation on the project. Thereafter, a soft launching was held on October 2014 when the Foster Placement Authority were issued to Foster Parents applicants.

With Aruga, abseentism was no longer a problem for teachers and for Pantawid Pamilya student-beneficiaries, they can now concentrate on their studies.

“Dakel nga yaman mi ti kinaimbag ti panagpuspusu yu nga nangited iti pribilehiyo  kadakami nga ubbing tapnu iti kasta ket maka-iskwela kami. Babaen iti programa yo nga adda ti foster parents mi asidegen ti pagpagnaen mi nga mapan ijay pagadalan (we are thankful and privileged that we are able to continue our studies through your program of providing Foster Care because of the proximity of the school to our Foster Families’ homes),” expressed the student-beneficiaries. ### GELA FLOR R. PEREZ, Regional Information Officer II