Angat Buhay Foundation, the non-governmental organization (NGO) founded and chaired by former Vice President Leni Robredo, has helped a total of 20,131 families and 15,636 individuals across 176 communities since it was established last July 1, 2022, according to a report released on Saturday during the foundation’s first-anniversary celebration.
“Nagsisimula pa lang tayo (We are just getting started),” said Raffy Magno, executive director of Angat Buhay.
From July last year to June 2023, Bayanihan e-Konsulta, the foundation’s flagship telemedicine program, assisted 7,706 unique patients with the help of 285 medical volunteers and at least a thousand non-medical volunteers. The program, originally for COVID-19 response, has expanded to mental health and other non-emergency medical issues as well.
At least 1,214 underweight and severely underweight children aged 6 to 59 months are also enrolled in the foundation’s nutrition program. The said program is present in seven (7) sites including Himamaylan in Negros Occidental and Maslog in Eastern Samar.
Angat Buhay also established 137 learning hubs nationwide to help non-readers and numeracy-challenged learners. Community learning hubs or CLH house equipment and learning tools for students, including trained teaching volunteers.
Learners go through a program that targets their skills in reading and math in specialized ‘Angat Basa’ and ‘Angat Bilang’ centers. In a year, at least 5,000 students have been enrolled in the program.
“Improving literacy and numeracy of Filipino students needs community-based involvement,” said Magno. “We enjoined the assistance of education experts and stakeholders in designing the modules, training, and evaluation system. In our monitoring, all hubs improve learners’ literacy while 95% of students improved in their numeracy from pre-test to post-test,” he also said.
Within a year, Angat Buhay also finished construction and turnover of dormitories in Infanta, Quezon and Camarines Norte and classrooms in Camarines Sur and Maasin, Iloilo.
More than 20,000 families affected by natural and man-made disasters from 93 displaced and affected communities were also given immediate relief and assistance and rehabilitation initiatives by the NGO since it was established.
Early this year, Angat Buhay also inked a deal to establish a disaster preparedness and response center to train volunteers for disaster response and serve as a headquarters for the foundation’s relief efforts.
In August last year, Robredo launched the Angat Bayanihan, a volunteer network that aims to empower people’s organizations and help them give back to their respective communities. Since then, Angat Bayanihan has mobilized 188 grassroots organizations and 13,705 individual volunteers, according to the foundation. The said network has conducted community kitchens, medical missions, and relief distribution, among others.
“Angat Buhay is now a movement, and we are sending a message to millions of Filipinos that they are not alone in demanding meaningful participation,” said Magno. “Ang Angat Buhay ay pagpapatupad ng adhikain ng bawat Pilipinong may tiwala sa kanyang sarili at sa kapangyarihan ng bayanihan (Angat Buhay embodies the aspiration of the Filipino who has faith in oneself and in the power of volunteerism),” Magno concluded.
