ILOILO CITY—Vice President Leni Robredo on Saturday launched “Angat Buhay” projects in Lambunao, Iloilo, which is among the 50 pilot areas of her “Angat Buhay Program” and the only recipient town in the province.
Robredo said the program is an anti-poverty partnership with local government units and private corporations, which covers five areas of advocacy: education, universal health care, food security and nutrition, rural development, and women empowerment.
Eleven corporations have pledged to partner with the town of Lambuano, but Robredo said they launched three projects first—linking of farmers to markets, a feeding program for malnourished children, and establishing play centers in every barangay across the town.
The private partners of Lambunao include the Feed the Hungry Foundation and the Negrense Volunteers for Change Foundation.
In choosing the beneficiaries, the program observed how the town works to become progressive, since Robredo believes it is important the pilot recipients would succeed with their private partnerships.
“We chose Lambunao not because they are poor, but because we have seen that their local chief executive is also progressive,” she said.
Lambunao Mayor Jason Gonzales expressed his thanks to Robredo and the program’s partners for choosing his town among its first recipients. He pledged to work hard to see the projects through.
The program will see 15,000 farmers in Lambunao getting the opportunity to bring their products to the market. The town has 24,000 hectares of rice land, 90 percent of which are rain-fed.
Under the feeding program, 731 malnourished children in the town will be fed for 120 days. Robredo was optimistic better nutrition would help the children improve under the program.
The vice president also encouraged the Municipal Health Officers and the Barangay Nutrition Scholars to work more for the program to succeed.
Meanwhile, Barangay Pajo was first area to receive the play garden project. It will be constructed in a 600-square meter lot, which will be a venue for “unstructured play” for the children, Robredo said.
She assured a second batch of local government units would be chosen by October to receive projects under “Angat Buhay.”