Feature: Even dreams of farmers’ children do come true

by Jose Alsmith Soria

Tacloban City (July 31) — Anabel Montes and Cesar Espinosa are now just an inch away from the realization of their dreams.

The two young people were recipients of the “Programang Agraryo Iskolar” formerly known as the President Diosdado Macapagal Agrarian Scholarship Program or the PDMASP, of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).

Thru the said scholarship program, Anabel and Cesar earned a degree in education at the Naval Institute of Technology, now Naval State University, and were among the more than 11 thousand lucky passers of the Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET) held on April 18 this year.

Both Anabel and Cesar are children of farmers from Biliran province, with ricefields serving as their playgrounds during their childhood days.

Children of agrarian reform beneficiaries, the two were qualified to avail of the scholarship program extended by the DAR.

Anabel, 22 years old, from Barangay Larrazabal in Naval, dreamt of becoming a teacher. Her father, Antonio Montes, is a recipient of the government’s land transfer program under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).

The youngest among three siblings with parents financially hard up, she was able to pursue college education thru the then PDMASP taking up Bachelor in Elementary Education, major in Pilipino.

On the other hand, Cesar, 22 years old, is the son of Santos Espinosa, also a CARP beneficiary from Barangay Burabod in Biliran town.

For Cesar who is also the youngest in a brood of three, to become a policeman was his childhood fantasy. Poverty forced him to shift interest and take up a course in college that was less expensive.

Though he qualified to avail of the scholarship program offered by the DAR, Cesar said that the budget was limited and not sufficient to finance the numerous school requirements, thus, he enrolled and was able to graduate from a degree in Bachelor of Science in Education, major in Math.

The next step for Anabel and Cesar now is to apply for a slot at the Department of Education in order to serve in public schools.

Although Cesar now earns on a commission basis as provincial coordinator of Rasti Review Institute, he still continues to look for a regular job is much better, according to him. He hopes that very soon he will get hired as a teacher in one of the public schools in Biliran.

With this development, Provincial Agrarian Reform Officer (PARO) Elisea Orapa beams with pride saying that the government’s effort was not put in vain.

According to her, in the conceptualization of this scholarship program, DAR believed that there are jewels in the farm that just need to be polished like diamonds in order to shine.

Orapa further said that these scholars could also be of big help in the smooth implementation of the CARP by simply assisting their illiterate co-villagers understand the laws on agrarian reform as well as in the values formation for a successful implementation of the program.

For Anabel, Cesar and their parents, dreams do come true even to those who have less in life. It is just a matter of grabbing opportunities at the perfect time and use the same to make their dreams come true.

By doing so, they are show how thankful they are to the people who provided them the opportunity at the time when they needed it most, to make a difference in the lives of their families. (PIA-8)