Angat Buhay, the flagship antipoverty program of Vice President Leni Robredo, has reached 622,000 Filipino families in 223 cities and municipalities with the help of 372 organizations, using more than P520 million in funding from various sources, mostly donations from the private sector, the Office of the Vice President said in its year-end report.
The figures are as of December 2021, covering Angat Buhay’s nearly six years of extending assistance to marginalized families by bringing together the public and private sector to work on key advocacy areas: food security and nutrition; universal healthcare; public education; rural development; housing and resettlement; and youth and women empowerment. The program also covered disaster relief and rehabilitation and response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Robredo’s vision in helping alleviate the lives of Filipino families through Angat Buhay mirrors her vision for the country in her bid for the presidency in the coming May 2022 elections.
“Meron na tayong vision na kapag tayong binigyan ng pagkakataon, ito ‘yung Pilipinas na inaasahan natin: na ‘yung mga naiiwan ay inaakay, ‘yung mga nadadapa, ibinibitbit. ‘Yung mga blessed ay sini-share yung blessing sa iba,” Robredo said.
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Since 2016, P146.83 million in donations from the private sector and P85.25 million pesos in relief assistance were provided by the OVP for those in calamity areas such as in the Taal explosion, those affected by Typhoon Nina in 2016, and residents of areas hit by Typhoon Odette.
Robredo led the OVP’s pandemic response through projects like the Swab Cab which tested 9,757 people in communities with high transmission rates; the Vaccine Express which mobilized frontliners to help local government units in their vaccination programs; and the Bayanihan E-Konsulta which helped ease congestion in hospitals through telemedicine. The office also funded 35,656 extraction and detection kits for help in identifying COVID-19 positive individuals.
The pandemic response also addressed the loss of jobs and the challenge of remote learning.
The OVP’s Community Mart which helped 41 tricycle drivers and 248 vendors in Pasig and Quezon City, Sikap.Ph which eased job hunting for those displaced by the pandemic, and the provision of gadgets for schoolchildren and the establishment of Community Learning Hubs are some examples of these projects.
Robredo’s healthcare projects extended well beyond the medical assistance provided by her office. A total of P82.14 million have been mobilized for health projects in 124 localities, such as a mental health facility in San Remigio, Cebu, which was also given x-ray machines and medicines with the help of Solanaland Foundation and ANCOP Foundation USA.
There were 44 projects worth P39.49 million that were initiated to address malnutrition. In Lambunao, Iloilo, 800 children benefited from the feeding program conducted with the Negrense Volunteers for Change Foundation, Inc.
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The OVP was also instrumental in the construction of 81 classrooms and five dormitories worth P122.96 million to help students in places like Siayan, Zamboanga del Norte where the dormitory was constructed in partnership with the Yellow Boat of Hope Foundation.
By staying in the dormitories, students no longer had to walk a long distance every day to get to their schools. Angat Buhay also provided scholarships and skills training to more than 120 Filipino youth.
The program was also able to reach 138 women entrepreneurs all over the country, where they were given access to livelihood opportunities, including startup capital and mentoring from experts, through the Angat Buhay Workshop for Aspiring Women Entrepreneurs.
Together with UN Women, Embassy of Sweden, SPARK Philippines, and Empower, the OVP launched #RespetoNaman, a campaign against gender-based violence, rape, and sexual harassment. They also initiated Babaenihan Talks to address teenage pregnancies in poor communities.
A total of P15.39 million worth of livelihood assistance was also turned over to 156 fisherfolk, famers, seamstresses, small businessmen, and riders in partnership with 33 accredited civil society organizations, like the members of PANGISDA Parañaque, who received fish cages, boats, and other equipment along with training in financial and business management, leadership, organizational building, and cooperative building.
The rural development projects included the Omasenso sa Kabuhayan program, where small farmers from Camarines Sur became agri-preneurs and directly connected to bigger markets for their produce, which now benefit 11 farmer organizations.
Marawi City and the Bicol Region benefited from Angat Buhay’s housing programs. The BAHAYanihan program in Bicol allocated P15.4 million for construction materials for people living in danger zones, while donations from the private sector enabled the construction of 72 transitory shelters for the survivors of the fighting in Marawi.
