Luli calls on Pinoy youth to help Leyte landslide victims

ZAMBOANGA CITY — Presidential daughter Evangelina Lourdes, or "Luli," Arroyo called on the youth yesterday to join together in helping the victims of the landslide in Southern Leyte.

Speaking to student leaders and campus journalists at the Zamboanga State College of Marines Science and Technology here, Luli said many youth organizations have volunteered for humanitarian missions to help survivors of the landslide that buried thousands of residents of Barangay Guinsaugon in Saint Bernard town.

"I am encouraging young leaders to give everything that is useful to help the victims," she said.

Luli said the outpouring of assistance from here and abroad and efforts from rescue teams sent by the international community including the US military have helped to dig through tons of mud and boulders in an effort to recover survivors.

The support does not end there, she added, as rebuilding assistance will be much needed by the survivors and the community to stand again.

Her mother, President Arroyo, was making every effort possible to help the victims of the landslide, she assured her audience.

Luli later attended a program for out of school youth under the Youth Entrepreneurship Program for Young Agri-Pinoys (YEP for YAPpies) in the far-flung barangay of Quinipot, 40 kilometers east of Zamboanga City.

The project is being spearheaded by Zamboanga City Vice Mayor Maribel Climaco, the Department of Agriculture, National Youth Commission and various agencies.

Luli later led the opening of the marker-buoy in Sta. Cruz island, declaring the islets and the surrounding waters as a protective sanctuary. — Roel Pareño