Magdalos feed the poor, give away wheelchairs in Taguig
Malaya
September 17, 2009
MEMBERS of Partido Magdalo and their supporters visited depressed areas in Taguig City yesterday to feed indigents and distribute 22 wheelchairs to the disabled.
The Magdalos are planning to enter politics by fielding the more recognizable members like Scout Ranger Gen. Danilo Lim and Marine Col. Ariel Querubin in the senatorial race in 2010.
Its Taguig chapter president, Navy Ltsg. James Layug, said the activity was their way of bringing their cause to the grassroots.
Some 2,800 children from North Daang Hari, Tanyag, Maharlika, GHQ, Signal Village, Palar, Wildcat and PNR Site were fed by the Magdalo’s mobile soup kitchen. The feeding program actually began last June, said Samahang Magdalo administrative officer Noel Ariar, and continues to be held weekly.
“We just want to make an impact on the city’s depressed communities through this mobile soup kitchen. This is just one of the ways for our group to make meaningful approach to “ignored communities, a way to engage with their plight and at the same time, enrich volunteers with the experience of serving the less fortunate,” Ariar said.
“This feat may be old school yet it shows the connection of our people’s needs for attention and the volunteers’ willingness to help. Either way, we empower lives, we make meaningful presence,” said Layug who is reportedly running for Congress in Taguig.
Other Magdalos who are planning to run in next year’s elections are Marine Captain Gary Alejano and former Air Force Lt. Francisco Ashley Acedillo.
Layug was one of the core leaders of the Magdalo group, composed of junior officers and enlisted personnel that staged the 2003 Oakwood mutiny and the 2007 Manila Peninsula Hotel siege, both in Makati. He, along with the group’s other leaders Navy Ltsg.-turned-senator Antonio Trillanes IV and Alejano are currently detained at the PNP custodial center in Camp Crame while awaiting resolution of their coup d’etat and rebellion cases. – Ashzel Hachero