Villar conducts annual gift giving

MANILA, Philippines –  Sen. Manny Villar took time out from his busy schedule last week to visit his hometown in Bataan where he led the activities of the Villar Foundation and the yearly gift-giving tradition at his family’s ancestral home on Rizal street, Barangay Pacar in Orani.

His mother, Curita Bamba Villar, or Nanay Curing, is a native of Orani. She is the daughter of a fisherman and a housemaid. It was in Bataan where Nanay Curing started selling fish, which she continued in Divisoria market where the young Manny Villar used to help her man the stall.

“These are just simple tokens. It is the company and the tradition that we always look forward to every year. It gives our family the opportunity to talk to the people of Bataan and its local officials,” said Villar who is referred to by his fellow Bataeños as “Anak ng Bataan.”

Villar’s wife, former Las Pinas Representative Cynthia Villar, led the distribution of gifts.

Villar also led the unveiling of the Curita Villar Plaza at Bataan Peninsula State University. The spacious plaza in the university is built in honor of his mother, on behalf of whom Villar thanked the university officials, teachers and students.

While in Bataan, Villar also championed the various activities of the Foundation, including a medical mission at the covered court of Orani Municipal Hall. Right after, he swore in newly elected barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) officials.

Two feeding sessions were also conducted by Villar Foundation’s Kalusugan Caravan – at Hermosa Elementary School and Orani North Elementary School. Villar led the serving and feeding of nutritious snacks to nearly 1,500 students and parents.

Within the same month, the Foundation also conducted a series of feeding programs to students of Sto. Tomas Pinpin Elementary School and Samal North Elementary School.

“There is no question about the need to consistently bring the ‘Kalusugan Caravan’ here in Bataan. It is a good reason to keep visiting the province. This is also one way of extending my gratitude for the continued support of the people here,” said Villar.

The Villar Foundation has regular feeding sessions in Metro Manila and other parts of the country. The regular feeding sessions in Tondo is a much anticipated event, as every Thursday residents from various barangays in Tondo excitedly queue for their snacks.

The same feeding program was also launched this November in Iloilo where his late father Manuel Villar, Sr. hailed from. Nearly 1,500 residents – mostly schoolchildren – of Barangays San Juan and Hughes in Iloilo City were treated to hot meals served by the Foundation with assistance from Iloilo Vice Mayor Jose S. Espinosa III.

The Foundation’s Kalusugan Caravan upholds the Villar’s long-time advocacy of extending help and support to poverty-stricken Filipinos. Having experienced hunger himself while he was still a child in Tondo, Villar has a soft spot for the beneficiaries of his feeding program. He also acknowledges that hunger and poverty are really what keep children from going to school and completing their education.

“Malnourishment is rampant among Filipino schoolchildren. It is, in fact, alarming. They cannot learn and study on empty stomachs. Feeding programs are just stop-gap measures, but they do satisfy these children’s sustenance for the day. That is until a long-term solution is available to address widespread hunger in communities all over the country,” said Villar.

According to the Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute, one of every four Filipino families is hungry. The percentage has decreased dramatically since the 1980s and 1990s, but the volumes have not. It cites that 25 of approximately 100 million Filipinos are hungry

For his part, Villar has filed a bill in the Senate that recommends the institutionalization of a nutrient supplementing or feeding program similar to the “nutribun” feeding program during the 1970s-80s to augment the dietary needs primarily of schoolchildren.

Moreover, Villar vows to widen the scope and reach of his programs and will not be confined to feeding and medical missions.