Ain’t no barrio far enough for VP Leni

Despite the rough roads, Vice President Maria Leonor ‘Leni’ G. Robredo drove more than an hour from Dumaguete City to the upland village of Zamboanguita, Negros Oriental to look into the makeshift classrooms of Kalanggam Elementary School.

Robredo, a lawyer for the poor before she entered politics, on Friday visited the school, where she spoke with students, accompanied by their parents, about their tough living conditions, especially the lack of access to education.

The Vice President noted the high number of children who were not able to go to school in Sitio Kalanggam.

“We looked into the reasons why the students are not going to school. One of the reasons is the school is far,” she said.

The country’s second highest elected official went around the elementary school with Mayor Glenson Alanano, who showed her the classrooms made of bamboos and light materials.

The construction of a new school building is just one of the needs of residents.

They also told Robredo that they have no water supply.

The Office of the Vice President (OVP), through its Angat Buhay poverty alleviation program, has partnered with the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and industry Inc. to construct a two-classroom school building to replace the existing building.

She said she also found a partner from the private sector to put up a water system, also in Kalanggam.

Angat Buhay targets six core advocacies, among which are nutrition and food security, universal healthcare, education, rural development, housing, and women empowerment.

Since her office has a minimal budget, Robredo said she tapped the private sector to fund her projects for the people who needs help the most, which was why she found herself in Zamboanguito.

In Negros Oriental, Zamboanguito was among the beneficiaries of her antipoverty program because it is a fourth class municipality, she said.

The former housing chief said the new school building and water system are just the first batch of assistance to the municipality.

“We will add more. And one of the suggested places was Manjuyod,” she said.