Philippine Asian News Today Vol 20 no 19 | Page 4

HEADLINES  PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY October 1 - 15, 2018 11955 8th Avenue, Delta, BC www.lamezagrill.com 604 501 604 0963 501 0963 11955 88th Avenue, Delta, BC • 604 501 0963 • www.lamezagrill.com • lamezagrill VP Robredo Visits Vancouver Vice President of the Philippines Leni Robredo visited Vancouver this week to grace the 28th Anniversary of the Philippine Bicolano Association in BC (PBABC) held at the Hilton Hotel in Burnaby. Around 250 guests came to see and hear Robredo speak to the crowd of mostly eager kababayans from Bicol. Robredo was received by the Consulate General of the Philippines in Vancouver headed by Consul General Maria Andrelita Austria. Speaking in English, Tagalog and in Bicol, Robredo spoke about her project Angat Buhay (Uplifting Life). The flagship anti-poverty program has benefitted 83,707 families (as of 2017) across the country in its first year of implementation. “We were able to implement Angat Buhay in its first year without a budget. We just relied on the support from private companies,” Robredo shares. One of the programs aims is to introduce livelihood programs to the families, as well as to farmers who she says, need the support by local businesses to use their produce instead of importing. The only problem is, small farmers are not capable of producing the amount of produce the businesses need to run. Robredo says she and her team are continuing to negotiate with these businesses to give the farmers a chance to enhance their livelihood and be proud of their produce. Because the Office of the VP does not fully subsidize Angat Buhay, Robredo says they had to find other means to provide for the project by approaching private companies. It has linked mediator private companies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to local government units (LGUs) to provide assistance to families in need. Since its launch on October 10, 2016, Angat Buhay helped companies, NGOS, and LGUs provide P145 million worth of services to poor communities in the WWW.PHILIPPINEASIANNEWSTODAY.COM Philippines including feeding and nutrition programs that benefitted 2,345 stunted and wasted children, and lactating mothers; food packs and multivitamins for 5,392 families; livelihood opportunities for 7,691 farmers, fisherfolk, and indigent families; classroom construction, teacher training, scholarships, school supplies, and other equipment that benefitted 21,791 students, out-of- school youth, and teachers; solar kits and generators, water filters, water pumps, hygiene kits, CONT PAGE 21