As the country struggles with the spread of COVID-19, modern-day heroes line up on the frontlines to battle, save lives and control the spread of the disease. Among these extraordinary individuals are Camille and Lurilyn, former Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) child beneficiaries. Each having challenged poverty, each with a story to tell.
“Camille”
She is the eldest of 3 children between Mario and Elsie Dalayap from Maui, Delfin Albano, Isabela. With her parents not having a steady source of income, she recounts how, as a young child, she would accompany her mother in selling various wares just so they could get by every day.
The family became part of the program in 2012 and with it, new opportunities. Her father was given the opportunity to work at Saudi Arabia as a driver while her mother served as a barangay tanod and a parent leader for the program.
On her part, she buried herself in her studies, taking up Bachelor of Science in Respiratory Therapy at Cagayan State University and finally graduating last June 2019. After passing the licensure exam for respiratory therapists, she started working on November 21, 2019 at Isabela United Doctors Medical Center.
Her fearlessness to the threat of COVID-19 to medical workers has even led her to become a role model to her younger sibling who is eyeing to take up a Nursing degree someday.
I’m proud to say that I’m a 4p’s beneficiary and a frontliner in this battle against this pandemic that we are facing right now,” Camille says.
“Lurilyn”
Dr. Lurilyn Pastor is the second child, along with her twin Widna, of Monica and Armando Pastor, from Del Pilar, Cabarroguis, Quirino. Her family worked as tenants for a large agricultural land before being included in the program. During their 5-years in the program, the family religiously complied with the conditions of the program while seeking their own means to improve their living condition.
After finishing her BS Biology degree, Lurilyn worked as a laboratory analyst for San Miguel Corporation in order to save up for a degree in medicine at the Cagayan State University, Tuguegarao.
She is a recipient of the scholarship for medical students of the Department of Health (DOH) which included four years of medical education, including summer immersion programs and a post graduate internship.
She graduated and successfully hurdled the Licensure Examination for Physicians on October 2018 and has since then returned services as a doctor to the barrio assigned at Delfin Albano, Isabela. Her family has voluntarily waived out of the program last October 2019 despite still having eligible children in the household.
As the fight against the disease rages on, they continue to serve with the #4PsBayanihan resolve, reminding everyone to stay home so that they can save lives. They hold their head high, they are 4Ps on the frontlines.