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OVP taps families orphaned by drug war to sew PPE sets


Vice President Leni Robredo has tapped families orphaned by the Duterte administration's drug war to sew personal protective equipment (PPE) sets for health workers and other frontliners amid COVID-19 pandemic.

In a Facebook post, Robredo said that these orphaned families were from Payatas Samahan ng mga Orphans at Widows (SOW).

“They are family members of EJK (extrajudicial killings) victims who organized themselves. We tapped them to sew PPEs for us and we have been so impressed by the speed and quality of their work,” Robredo said.

“I wanted to share this with you because, moving forward with our new normal, let us all find creative ways by which we can help communities,” she added.

The Vice President said that tapping such organizations for PPE work is more sustainable going forward under the new normal pending vaccine against COVID-19 pandemic.

“Giving relief goods will not be sustainable in the long term. But giving them opportunities to earn income will help them live with dignity,” Robredo added.

Robredo also shared the text message sent by the Payatas SOW thanking her office for tapping them.

“Maraming salamat po sa inyong pagpapatahi na isa po kami na SOW ang napili nio. Sobrang malaki po ang tulong sa mga nanay,” members of the Payatas SOW’s message read.

“Iyong kinita po nila….’yung dalawang nanay nakabili ng yero para sa bubong nila. ‘Yung iba, binili ng semento para masementohan ang portion ng kanilang sahig dahil lupa lang. Kaya salamat po uli at sana makatahi pa uli sila ng PPE,” they added.

Based on government records, over 6,700 drug suspects have been killed under the police’s anti-drug operations. The said number, however, does not include those drug war deaths perpetrated by unidentified gunmen. Local and international human rights groups also claim the death toll is much higher than what the government has been reporting.

Robredo is opposed to the government’s drug war campaign, saying that it has killed thousands of people, and that it has failed to reduce the drug supply in the country. — Llanesca T. Panti/BM, GMA News

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