Bangon Pilipinas makes pre-Valentine's Baseco visit

MANILA, Philippines - Presidential candidate Bro. Eduardo “Eddie” Villanueva and the rest of the national candidates of the Bangon Pilipinas Party made a pre-Valentine’s Day visit at Baseco Compound in Manila where they promised to institute programs to alleviate poverty.

The visit, called “Lovefest” was done at the Bataan Shipyard and Engineering Corp. (Baseco), which is one of the depressed areas in Metro Manila. This was a demonstration of their compassion in action. “Bangon always has a soft spot for the poor. We in Bangon believe that all men are created in God’s own image so they are entitled to basic requirements of a decent living and livelihood,” Villanueva said in a statement.

“Once elected, we aim to aggressively address the poverty problem,” he said.

He plans on putting up sustainable communities for “the poorest of the poor” with the help of private institutions such as the Operation Compassion, Gawad Kalinga and Habitat for Humanity.

Accompanying Villanueva in Tondo were vice presidential bet lawyer Perfecto Yasay Jr. and the seven senatoriables with the acronym APOINT-V comprised of Islamic expert Dr. Zafrullah Alonto, lawyer Reynaldo Princesa, lawyer Ramoncito Ocampo, broadcast journalist Katherine “Kata” Inocencio, Count Habib Adz Nikabulin, broadcast journalist Alex Tinsay and educator Dr. Israel Virgines.

During the BPP visit, they also had a symbolic “boodle fight” wherein they laid out the food on a long table and together with representatives from different sectors they ate the chicken adobo, red egg and tomatoes.

In the evening, the residents were treated to performances of rap artist Gloc9, Dolphy Jr., Anthony Roquel and Cathy Amaca.

The 53-hectare abandoned shipyard is a “shantytown” and home to thousands of poor families. Many of the residents in the area came from the provinces. They dreamed of living a better life in Metro Manila. Unfortunately, their dreams were crushed by the lack of opportunities.

Baseco is also considered as a fire-prone area wherein during the past 10 years, Baseco was hit by three big fires.

The BPP candidates would be going to Chinatown in Binondo area in Manila City to join in the welcoming of the Chinese New Year and meet with Chinese businessmen.