Solon gives cash assistance to students in depressed areas

At least 73 underprivileged pupils from a public elementary school in a depressed area in Caloocan City received cash assistance Friday from second district Rep. Luis "Baby" Asistio.

Cenon Mayor, president of the Kalookan Assistance Council Inc. (KACI), the implementing arm of Asistio’s projects, said that each pupil were given P1,500 in cash by the solon.

It was intended to help the students and their parents cope up with the high prices of basic commodities, especially school supplies.

"The cash assistance was not that enormous but it’s a big help to the pupils and their hard-up parents," Mayor said.

The activity, held at Sitio Kawal-Landasca, Bgy. 28 in Dagat-Dagatan, was part of the congressman’s poverty alleviation program that also includes livelihood and health assistance projects.

Mayor said that Patricia Luna, Department of Social Welfare and Development-National Capital Region assistant regional director and Myla Loza, officer-in-charge of Jose Fabella Center, endorsed the program to Asistio.

It was funded through the congressman’s Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).

The project was also made possible through the efforts of Councilor Macario "Maca" Asistio III, and Josephine Dimalanta, principal of the Kasarinlan Elementary School in Dagat-Dagatan.

"The solon’s comprehensive and integrated delivery of social services to his poor constituents is a continuous process," Mayor said.

He said that Asistio is also extending financial support to at least 30 "poor but deserving" students in different colleges in Caloocan.

Only recently, Asistio also distributed a total of 15,000 school bags to public high schools in the second district.