By Raymund Antonio
Two weeks from now, Angat Buhay Village will be opening its doors to 60 families displaced by the Marawi siege.
Vice President Leni Robredo
(OVP / MANILA BULLETIN)
Vice President Leni Robredo announced the transitory housing site under her flagship antipoverty program, Angat Buhay, is set to be inaugurated on July 17, Tuesday.
Robredo will return to Marawi to turn over the completed housing units that would host the families who lost their homes in the war with local terrorists linked with international terrorist network Islamic State (ISIS).
“Initially 60 na mga kabahayan pero 100 lahat. Ito lahat, sa private farms,” Robredo, who campaigns for those in the fringes of society, said.
(Initially these are 60 houses but the total is 100. These are all in private farms.)
The Angat Buhay Village was supposed to be inaugurated on June 11 in time for the country’s Independence Day celebration, but it was postponed to a later date.
Robredo will lead the turn over of the transitional houses to beneficiaries complete with a health and livelihood center, mosque, a toy library and other amenities.
The construction of the temporary shelters is a joint project of the Office of the Vice President, the Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan, and the Marawi City government.
The Vice President said her office has limitations given its meager budget, but this will not stop them from extending help to various communities in need through private partnerships.
Robredo cited her poverty alleviation project complements the resources and services of other national agencies.
As of June 30, Angat Buhay has reached more than 155,000 Filipino families in 176 poor communities around the country aside from the construction of transitory shelters for displaced residents of Marawi.
The OVP said it had extended P252-million worth of assistance two years since Robredo took office.
Her antipoverty program also brought services like medical missions, legal assistance, social protection, and job fairs for all the underprivileged areas that Robredo visited in Metro Manila.
Launched in October 2016, Angat Buhay focuses on six key advocacy areas, among which are rural development, food security and nutrition, universal healthcare, housing and resettlement, public education,and women empowerment. This also includes disaster response and rehabilitation.