April 16, 2025 – Finding the value of education at an early age.

As a child, she would often see her mother in tears.

Shaira Jane Villariña, now 24, recalls how her mother would cry mainly because there was no food on the table and their debts were piling higher and higher every day.

“I often had to miss school because there was no money for my school fees or even lunch,” shared Shaira, a resident of Brgy. Kinagatan in Binangonan, Rizal.

Though Shaira sees the hard work of her parents to provide for them, she understood at that young age that more often than not, there still was not enough money to support all their needs.

“I did what I could to help. Along with my other sibling, I collected and sold scrap materials. We even helped our relatives in their stores so we can receive food items such as rice, bread, or coffee in return,” shared Shaira, who admitted that there were times that she would be embarrassed when her classmates saw her doing these things.

However, Shaira carried on with her efforts.

After all, for a child like her, what was more important is the food on the table.

Finding the value of education

Her father worked day and night as a fisherman and a construction worker while her mother juggled raising six children and earning through sewing clothes. 

Despite these, their house remained made of patched-up sacks and all of them used hand-me-down clothes.

Shaira admits that because of their financial struggles, their education had been the least of their priorities. However, when their family became a beneficiary of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) in 2012, their family’s perception changed gradually.

Shaira recalled that in times that they would feel lazy about going to school, their parents would insist that they go to school and not miss a day. Though it was mainly because of their fear of being removed as a beneficiary of the 4Ps, they later on learned that missing a day in school will take away their chances of learning something new.

“The program restored my parents’ hope. We, on the other hand, became more motivated to go to school,” she shared.

According to Shaira, the financial assistance from the 4Ps lifted most of her parents’ worries, especially for their expenses in school.

Little by little, their parents became hopeful that they will have a better life.

Thankful to the ‘change of priorities’

The cash grants from the 4Ps had supported Shaira’s education until she graduated from senior high school; however, she and her parents helped each other so she could continue going to college.

Shaira was able to secure the Tulong Dunong Scholarship from the Commission on Higher Education and other scholarship programs from the local government. Her parents, on the other hand, worked harder to provide for her other needs.

However, in the same year she finished her college education, her mother was hospitalized and her father suffered from a stroke.

“Because of the automatic membership of 4Ps beneficiaries to PhilHealth, we did not have to pay for the hospital bills,” shared a relieved Shaira.

The medical condition of both her parents left them unable to work moving forward. As such, Shaira stepped up once again to help her younger siblings, one is in college and the other is in Grade 4.

Now, Shaira is preparing to take the Licensure Examination for Criminologists while doing side hustles assisting his relatives in manning their store in the market.

For Shaira, though their life these days is not as comfortable as what she dreams to have, she remains grateful for her education as she knows she can secure a better job because of her diploma.

“While there’s still much to be done, I know that we are on the right path,” she shared.
Equipped with her college diploma, she is confident that she can pursue her dreams and looks forward to seeing her mother cry not because of their difficult circumstances but of their family’s better life. # [with reports from EWCAGallardo]