Vice President Leni Robredo, running for president in the May 2022 elections, visited the headquarters of the AFP Joint Task Force Tawi-Tawi on Tuesday and a fisherfolk community in Basilan on Wednesday, her office said.
Robredo was received by Marine Col. Nestor Narag, Jr., Deputy Brigade Commander, 2nd Marine Brigade, Lt. Col. Ashley Nastor, Chief of Staff of the 2nd Marine Brigade, and Capt. Angelita Roma Pacion, a military doctor.
At the Toong Hall, Robredo signed the Subscriptio Murus wall where she wrote a message of gratitude for the service and sacrifice of the soldiers she called heroes.
She turned over to the task force 1,000 N95 face masks procured by the Office of the Vice President and 500 antigen test kits for the soldiers, her office said in a press release.
On Wednesday, Robredo visited the fisherfolk community in Brgy. Lukboton, Malamawi Island, in Isabela City, Basilan which received equipment and training needed to double their monthly catch volume and income through a locally funded Angat Buhay project of the Office of the Vice President that started in 2019.
The OVP provided 50 units of motorized banca and various fishing paraphernalia, a solar chest freezer worth P2 million, and training to 120 fisherfolk from the Farm and Aquatic Resources Management Council of Isabela.
Meanwhile, Robredo’s running mate Senator Francis Pangilinan filed a bill seeking to fund the studies until college graduation of one member of every eligible Filipino family.
Senate Bill 2495, or the “Bawat Pamilya May College Gradweyt Act”, seeks to “ensure that at least one member of every eligible Filipino family shall be assisted to pursue and successfully complete college education.”
The bill gives priority to first-generation college students, or students who are part of households included in the Listahanan 2.0, and students who are not part of the Listahanan 2.0 but belong to low-income households.
Under the bill, Pangilinan said “beneficiaries of the program shall be entitled to receive full tuition and other school fees subsidies and allowances,” as provided for in the bill.