Celso launches anti-poverty project in Sangali
Mayor Celso Lobregat administers the reading of the covenant of MDG-FACES officers in Sangali, November 6. The MDG-FACES is Family-based Action for Children and their Environs in the Slums in support of the Millenium Development Goal. (JOEY BAUTISTA)
The impoverished community in Purok 6, Sangali in the east coast has been identified by the city government as the pilot area for the implementation of the Millennium Development Goal Family-based Action for Children and their Environs in the Slums (MDG-FACES) project that seeks to develop the area through numerous poverty-reduction approaches.
Mayor Celso Lobregat on Friday spearheaded the launching of the project and administered the reading of the covenant signifying the commitment of the identified families to undertake the necessary measures to improve the plight of their community.
Mayor Lobregat said the program is part of the government’s continuing thrust to empower the poor. He hoped that the identified beneficiaries will take advantage of the program.
City Social Welfare and Development Officer Francisco Barredo, whose office is in charge of implementing the project, said the MDG-FACES is an initiative of the Local Government Academy (LGA) under the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).
The Sangali project is a replication of the project’s first phase held in 10 cities in the country. Upon the culmination of the Sangali program, the same will be replicated in other barangays in the city.
Under the Sangali program, 51 poorest of the poor families have been selected to be models for the project that will cover a period of 8 months. The youths will undergo skills training while mothers will undergo trainings on livelihood activities.
“This is a project where the government intends to improve a community, a story of a slum area that becomes a model community of healthy and educated constituents,” Barredo pointed out.
The identified families have committed to develop their community through health, education, livelihood and environmental preservation among other approaches.
It is recalled that Mayor Lobregat has reaffirmed his commitment to continuously implement poverty-reduction measures to help alleviate the plight of residents of the city.
Among the poverty-reduction measures that are being intensified by the present administration are education-related programs, employment opportunities, livelihood activities and several others. (Sheila Covarrubias)