PCSO general manager Melquiades Robles (third from left) in photo for posterity with PCUP commissioner Rey Galupo (in black coat and tie) and his staff, (from left to right) Sheila Piesa, Danilo Singh, Jaigie Kimuell and Tracy Cabrera. (Photo supplied by PCUP Public Information Unit/Chelzy Jane Caspe)
PHILIPPINE Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) general manager Melquiades Robles has committed his full support to helping an urban poor community in Novaliches, Quezon City following a visit by Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP) commissioner Rey Galupo who solicited sponsorship for the livelihood project of the Nagkaisang Mamamayan ng Barangay Sauyo (NAMABASA).
GM Robles, who described Comm. Galupo as a long-time friend and colleague, immediately granted the latter’s request for assistance in behalf of the urban poor in Bgy. Sauyo.
The meeting was brief as it took less than a minute for the PCSO administrator to commit himself in helping the PCUP in its mandate to prioritize the welfare of the country’s marginalized sectors.
In reaction, Comm. Galupo thanked GM Robles, quoting from French novelist Marcel Proust: “Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”
The PCUP NCR commissioner, a former media man, was surprised himself with the speedy reply of GM Robles and accredited the speedy resolution of the request to their joint desire to support the poverty alleviation program of President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr.
Since his appointment, Galupo has visited several urban poor communities in the National Capitalk Region (NCR) and seeing their plight has likewise made courtesy calls to private and government offices to fulfill the PCUP’s mandate of linking the urban poor to concerned agencies that could extend valuable help and improve their lives through programs and projects which would provide employment and livelihood opportunities.
The PCUP is now under a new administration under the leadership of Undersecretary Elpidio Jordan Jr. who has vowed to launch his four banner programs for the urban poor by the following year in line with the Marcos administration’s pro-poor policies.
At a recent Local Government Unit (LGU) Forum held in Quezon City, Usec. Jordan called on local government chief executives (LGCEs) to support the PCUP and help it achieve its goals of improving the lives of the country’s marginalized and underprivileged sectors.
