Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte led the simultaneous and nationwide launching of the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) “PagbaBAGo Campaign: A Million Learners and Trees”, which aims to provide one million beneficiaries learning materials and dental kits.
Vice President Sara Duterte gives a green backpack filled with school supplies and dental kits to a young learner in Cebu as part of her office's "PagbaBAGo" campaign. (OVP photo)
The program also targets to improve environmental awareness among Filipino students.
“We hope that in the six years, while we are the Office of the Vice President, the campaign will reach one million children and one million parents,” Duterte said in the Visayan language.
In a Facebook post, she said the OVP has partnered with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Department of Education (DepEd) in the implementation of the campaign.
Duterte led the launch of the program from Mandaue City in Cebu on Saturday, May 27, while satellite offices in Davao, Zamboanga, Surigao, Tacloban, Bacolod, Dagupan, Bicol, BARMM, and Isabela also started the same.
The campaign also aims to plant one million trees nationwide as a response to the call for environmental protection.
“Kasama din sa ating adbokasiya ang pukawin ang kamalayan ng mga kabataan sa kahalagahan ng kalikasan sa ating buhay ngayon at sa ating kinabukasan sa pagtatanim ng iba’t ibang mga puno o tree planting activity (Also part of the advocacy is to awaken the awareness of the youth to the importance of environment in our lives now and in our future through planting various trees or tree planting activity),” her post read.
(Photo from Inday Sara Duterte via Facebook)
“Hudyat ito ng simula ng ating kampanya para pangalagaan ang ating kalikasan at paghandaan ang epekto ng climate change sa ating mga komunidad (This is the start of our campaign for to care for our environment and prepare for the effect of climate change in our communities),” the official stressed.
The Vice President also took the opportunity to reiterate her call to ensure that children remain in school.
“Bilang kalihim ng Department of Education, nananawagan din ako na unahin ang pagpapahalaga ng edukasyon para sa mga kabataang Pilipino at mailayo sila sa kriminalidad, ilegal na droga, at insurhensiya upang matupad nila ang kanilang mga pangarap sa buhay (As secretary of the Department of Education, I also call on to prioritize the importance of education for Filipino youth and steer them away from criminality, illegal drugs, and insurgencies to fulfill their dreams in life),” Duterte said.
The PagbaBAGo campaign has a multifaceted approach to inspire students from low-income families and geographically disadvantaged locations to prioritize education and dental health.
Duterte started the campaign in Davao City when she was still a city mayor.
A total of 1,000 Grade 1 and Grade 4 learners in Cebu, Isabela, Dagupan, and Zamboanga were given the Pagbabago backpacks.
In Bacolod, 1,019 learners received backpacks, while 1,009 learners also got schoolbags in Surigao.
The campaign distributed 1,015 backpacks to learners in Tacloban and 1,008 in Bicol region. There were 2,008 learners who received schoolbags in BARMM and Davao.