Robredo seeks fellow UP graduates' aid for anti-poverty program

Vice President Leni Robredo exhorted fellow UP graduates and Filipino American community in Los, Angeles California to support her anti-poverty initiative, Angat Buhay.

Robredo made the pitch when she addressed the UP Alumni Association Greater Los Angeles (UPAAGLA) installation ceremony and endowment fund-raising gala in Los Angeles, California over the weekend.

As UP graduates, the Vice President said that serving the people with honor and excellence is not only a duty but also a unique privilege.

“Our knowledge, skills, and talent should be used for a higher purpose, never just for amassing wealth, finding fame, or acquiring power. This reunion is an opportune time to ask ourselves if we have done what UP has prepared us to do,” Robredo, who earned her Economics degree from the UP School of Economics in 1986, said in her speech.

“[And it is] not just [to] build a better nation, but more importantly a nation that is safe and empowering for all of its people. Generating wealth not just for progress’ sake, but creating opportunities for wealth even for those that are poor and marginalized. And most crucial of all: protecting the freedom and the rights of each man, woman, and child, not only those who have the means to buy justice,” Robredo added.

Robredo said that her office’s Angat Buhay program, which combines the resources of her office and that of private sector to aid communities in need, has provided crucial services to communities such as student dorms in Zamboanga del Norte and Eastern Samar; mental health facility and mental health workers training in San Remigio, Cebu; transitory shelters in Marawi City, among others.

“We hope that you will join us in our journey to uplift the lives of our countrymen. Each one of you can make this happen.  In UP, we were taught that to serve our people is our greatest call—regardless of where we are,” Robredo said.

“As the UP hymn goes, “Malayong lupain, amin mang marating, ‘di rin magbabago ang damdamin. That who we are and all we have are not meant to be kept to ourselves, but are meant to be shared with others, especially those who need our help the most,” Robredo added.

The Vice President also met Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles, who committed to mobilize the Fil-Am community to be of aid to Angat Buhay. —LDF, GMA News