Akbay Kapwa: a call for unity

By Alice V. Sicat

Friday 18th of May 2012

PASAY CITY, May 18 (PIA) -- If all citizens would help each other, then the country would move forward.

This is the message of the whole-day event held at the Cuneta Astrodome on Tuesday, May 15, dubbed “Rights Holders Congress” and “Akbay Kapwa Convergence Caravan 2012,” spearheaded by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Philippine Information Agency- National Capital Region, and in collaboration with the Association of the Regional Executives of Metro Manila (AREMM).

This is also in celebration of the United Nations (UN) International Day of the Family.

Three thousand beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) received free services provided by the different stakeholders headed by the Rotary International District 3780 and the different agencies of the government, who shared their time and effort in the occasion.

Activities included a job fair where 2,100 jobless beneficiaries were catered, in cooperation with private companies and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

Other services were offered such as massages, minor surgeries, circumcisions and hair-cuts for young boys; free lectures and flyers distribution for a drug-free community and family planning; free trainings for new livelihood for women and housewives; distribution of tree seedlings as part of the national greening program; bank account openings, free legal assistance and sss membership applications were provided too.

Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Sonny B. Coloma, DSWD Secretary Dingky Soliman, and DSWD-NCR Director Alicia Bonoan signed a pledge of commitment to the society and called upon everybody’s participation in building and shaping of a strong and progressive nation.

“Kumilos tayo ng sabay-sabay, pangungunahan po ng ating pamhalaan, ang paglaya ng Pilipino mula sa kahirapan… Tayo po ay magkaisa, tayo po ay makipag-ugnayan, tayo po ay makipagtulungan. Tuloy-tuloy po tayo sa pag-asenso at pagtawid ng pamilyang Pilipino tungo sa kaularan na kung saan, sama-samang uunlad ang buong sambayanan,” Sec. Coloma said. (RJB/AVS-PIA-NCR)