In the list of the 2024 Bar Examination passers is the name Kerth Jay Alunan.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) congratulated the new lawyer from Zamboanga del Norte as he was once a beneficiary of its Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4P).

The youngest of eight children from a poor family got financial support from the DSWD for his elementary and secondary education.

The DSWD then put Alunan under its scholarship program called the Expanded Students’ Grant-in-aid Program for Poverty Alleviation which catered to children of 4Ps members. He took up accounting at the Jose Rizal Memorial State University and passed the Certified Public Accountant licensure exam before studying law.

“Because of 4Ps, I was able to study in college. It helped me pay my tuition and miscellaneous fees, I had funds for the much-needed books, I was able to afford a boarding house — things that my parents would surely have a hard time providing because they only earn so little from their jobs,” Alunan said, according to the DSWD website.

“For poor people like us, education is the most effective way to change the course of our lives and lift our situation from poverty. The road to success is not easy and it is full of challenges, but do not lose hope. Always pray and draw strength and inspiration from your loved ones. Remember that your perseverance and sacrifices will be paid off someday,” he advised 4Ps children.

DSWD also congratulated Joan Grace Ewican, another 4Ps beneficiary from Carmen, Bohol, for passing the board exam for agricultural and biosystems engineers.

The alumnus of Bohol Island State University-Bilar Campus in Carmen acknowledged the role of 4Ps for her educational attainment and thanked the DSWD, the local government of Carmen and the Commission on Higher Education.

“I still clearly remember an innocent child drawing buildings during the talent portion of the Search for Exemplary Pantawid Pamilya Children 2014, expressing my eagerness to be an engineer. Though I was a bit redirected, I am truly grateful that God led me to where I am now,” she said in a Facebook post of the DSWD Field Office 7-Central Visayas.

Joan Grace also won 4th place in the 2014 National Search for Pantawid Pamilya Exemplary Children, an annual awarding rites of the program that recognizes 4Ps children-beneficiaries who are role models in their homes, communities and schools.