La Bella Vita: Movers and Shakers

Czarina Imperial I saw how our beloved Vice President Leni Robredo moved to help change the lives of Bicolanos in the fringes of society recently. She has been doing this since she became a congesswoman, going to the remotest areas of the country to bring help and good cheer and makes it a point to visit a recipient of her Angat Buhay Program every week now that she is the vice president. The VP went to far away barangays San Ramon and Caloco in Tinambac town last week, where there is no network coverage, with not so much of a media coverage or fanfare. Seeing her with the rural folk in slippers and jeans folded up, having casual conversations with LGU officials and some guests, away from the glamour and limelight of official functions was a precious opportunity. It was a fresh experience to walk with her through a coconut plantation and a footbridge over a shallow part of the sea toward the coastal community of Caloco where boats were being built for the fisherfolk, an Angat Buhay project. Our first stop was at the multi-purpose hall of Barangay San Ramon where the VP talked to the farmers who are under the Omasensong Pangkabuhayan Program of the Offie of the Vice President, the Dapartment of Agriculture, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Department of Agrarian Reform, and the restaurants and hotels in Naga City. Omasensong Kabuhayan is a cooperation among the concerned agencies mentioned and the farmers to help these farmers build better lives. OK gives technical assistance to farmers to produce vegetables that are in high demand in hotels and restaurants. Veggies and other much needed produce such as lettuce and sili and kalamansi are the specialized products because there is already a and a ready market for such in restaurants like Bigg’s, the first who committed to buy the produce of the farmers under the Omasensong Kabuhayan Program. VP Leni’s talk, her actions, her humility, her style of tireless work, make a whole package of heartwarming inspiration that moves everyone she meets. My guests who travelled from Manila to meet with her, Roy Yadav and Dev Singh, both Indian nationals and med students couldn’t help but be moved by the VP’s sincerity and humility that they promised to help in the Angat Buhay program in whatever significant way they can. The recipient would naturally be Tinambac, to the delight of Mayor Ruel Tuy, Councilors Jonas Soltes, Diane Cortan, and the other council members present during the casual meeting around a table with delicious native merienda in the canopy of coconut trees with the white sand of Caloco Beach under our feet. When a mover and a shaker shines her light, others are moved to spread the light for her and with her. God bless you VP Leni and the men and women you inspire to help make this world a better place.