Quake aid duet: Sara, Lord

Partnership of Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte ensure swift help to earthquake victims.

Close friends and allies Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte and Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco are touring the country on their motorbikes to raise donations for victims of the swarm of earthquakes that recently hit Mindanao.

Mayor Duterte has traveled from Laguna to Marinduque to join the motorcycle ride-for-a-cause of Velasco, who is also celebrating his birthday.

The daughter of President Rodrigo Duterte also shared her campaign on responsible parenting to residents of Marinduque during the tour.

“I introduced Davao City’s Pagbabago Campaign to Marinduque children and parents, arrived late at the birthday dinner, then watched the birthday concert,” Duterte told the Daily Tribune in a Viber message.

According to the Davao City chief information officer Jefry Tupas, the Pagbabago Campaign is a two-pronged approach to help alleviate poverty.

The campaign is a brainchild of Mayor Duterte in which letters that introduce parents to family planning are inserted into bags containing various goods.

The bags contain school supplies to highlight the importance of education to a Filipino family.

“This is based on the discussion that poverty is anchored primarily on the size of the family and the lack of education. If families are educated, they will have the tool to be economically stable,” Tupas said.

In a previous interview with Mayor Duterte during a Hugpong ng Pagbabago sortie in Sulu prior to the May elections, the presidential daughter said the responsible parenting campaign will be patterned after a similar project in Davao City.

“We have the Pagbabago Campaign in Davao City. We have bags, school kits. We also give family planning materials and letters, but we leave the decision on birth control to them,” the mayor said.

“When we leave it to them, we campaign that they should be responsible parents and they should practice responsible parenthood. We also talk to their children, telling them that the real key for a brighter future is through finishing their studies, their education,” she further explained.

Velasco celebrated his birthday on Saturday, 9 November through a ride-for-a-cause where donations from the riders will be given to victims of the recent series of earthquakes in Mindanao.

Aside from Duterte, Velasco was joined by Sen. Ronald de la Rosa and 80 more riders who started their ride from San Pedro, Laguna to Marinduque.

According to a statement, Velasco and Duterte led a gift-giving activity in Boac, Marinduque, followed by a birthday concert at the Marinduque Convention Center.

The riders were scheduled to head back to Manila yesterday afternoon.

The Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) also formed a communications team to raise public awareness on the series of earthquakes that shook Mindanao last month.

PCOO Assistant Secretary for Special Concerns Joseph Lawrence “Bam” Garcia has been tasked to lead the Mindanao Earthquake Communications Team, PCOO Secretary Martin Andanar said.

“We formed the Mindanao Earthquake Communications Team and we alerted all the PCOO personnel,” Andanar disclosed.

“We appointed Asec. Bam as head of the Mindanao Earthquake Comms Team to raise awareness in two areas that are at ground zero, namely Davao and Kidapawan, North Cotabato,” he added.

Mindanao was rocked by a string of deadly quakes in October, prompting the President to direct all concerned government agencies to extend immediate assistance to affected individuals.

The government’s relief operations in quake-hit areas in Mindanao continue to help residents return to normal life.