Arroyo admits suicide girl’s city not included in gov’t anti-hunger program
11/09/2007 | 01:26 AM
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Thursday admitted that her hunger mitigation program - which she said is implemented in the poorest provinces in the country- did not include Davao City, where an 11-year-old girl reportedly committed suicide due to extreme hunger.
“Kasi pina-prioritize natin iyung Metro Manila at saka 10 poorest provinces, which Davao is not included ( It’s because we prioritize Metro Manila and also the 10…)," Mrs Arroyo said at an informal interaction in Loyola Heights in Quezon City.
Under the Accelerated Hunger Mitigating Program of the administration, the identified provinces or areas are usually the recipient of poverty alleviation projects of the government like the Food for School in which a kilo of rice is given daily to children in pre-schools, day care and grade one levels.
The government has also launched the “Tindahan Natin (Our Store)," where affordable food items are available to consumers, and the “Botika sa Barangay (Village Drugstore)," where commonly used medicines are sold at cheaper rates.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said the government simply has to work harder on the anti-poverty and anti-hunger programs to avoid a repetition or prevent anyone from committing suicide like Marianette Amper.
“It’s a very unfortunate incident. But this government is focused on anti-poverty and anti-hunger programs and we’ll just have to work a little bit more so that incidents like these wont be repeated," he said.
He added that instead of resorting to faultfinding, everyone should just work together and even support the government in its efforts to address the problems of poverty and hunger.
He also said that credit should be given where it is due as the administration has been able to make a headway in its poverty alleviation measures.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the government should not be accused of being callused when it branded the incident as isolated, reiterating that Davao City is not among the targets of the poverty alleviation program.
Duque said he finds it ironic that Amper is from Davao, which is a “Consistent Regional Outstanding Winner in Nutrition" for its successful and sustained hunger mitigation program. The last CROWN award was given by the President Wednesday at the Manila Hotel where the awardees included Davao.
Duque, in a briefing at Malacanang, said while the death of Amper was tragic and unfortunate, authorities should look deeper into possible other causes of her death, including possible pathological problems as it is “abnormal" for a child to commit suicide because of extreme hunger.
He said the Department of Social Welfare and Development is already in touch with the Amper family and is extending all possible assistance to them, including livelihood and financial aid, provisional health insurance for the family, and burial assistance.
He also dismissed possible repetition or copycats. “I don’t think it’s going to happen unless there are pathological underlying reasons. I hope there will be no repetition of this," Duque said.
Education Undersecretary Vilma Labrador said if the parents have instilled stronger values on the students, she does not see any possible repeat of the incident.
Labrador, in the same briefing, said parents should teach and inspire their children to strive harder and do their best no matter regardless of the difficulties.
She also advised teachers to be more sensitive and start conducting home visits, especially whenever their students had been absent for three days or more.
She reminded the teachers that they are the second parents and the students should be able to tell them if they have any problems or even difficulties from submitting or producing projects to problems of lacking allowance, food or transportation fare prompting them to miss school.
Mrs Arroyo noting that Amper, prior to her death, had been absent from school for several days mostly due to lack of transportation fare, ordered the DepEd to expedite and expand the implementation of its distance learning education program.
She said the alternative education program would help address the issue of absences as well as dropouts. The alternative education program uses modules for distance learning, and is very much like the “open universities" offered by colleges and universities for their college and post-graduate courses.
Labrador, in a report to Mrs Arroyo, said the DepEd in Region III (Central Luzon) had just launched its own “Baon Para Kay Bunso" program to assist and entice students to continue attending school even without allowances.
The DSWD has ordered an investigation into the extent of poverty in Davao that reportedly drove an 11-year-old girl to commit suicide.
Radio dzBB reported Thursday that DSWD Secretary Esperanza Cabral ordered the DSWD regional office in Region 11 to check the poverty that drove Marianette to kill herself.
Cabral also ordered the DSWD regional office to extend help to Marianette’s family, despite Health Secretary Francisco Duque III's insistence Wednesday that Marionette’s was an "isolated" case.
Marianette, daughter of a local carpenter, left behind a letter and diary where she asked God to help her parents make ends meet.
She also said she could not go to school because she always lacked money for transportation and food.
Her death saddened the city, whose residents pitched in to provide financial assistance to her family.
Before she died, the girl wrote "Wish Ko Lang," a reality-based program, "wishing" for shoes, clothes, a bag and a bicycle so she could continue going to school. - GMANews.TV
“Kasi pina-prioritize natin iyung Metro Manila at saka 10 poorest provinces, which Davao is not included ( It’s because we prioritize Metro Manila and also the 10…)," Mrs Arroyo said at an informal interaction in Loyola Heights in Quezon City.
Under the Accelerated Hunger Mitigating Program of the administration, the identified provinces or areas are usually the recipient of poverty alleviation projects of the government like the Food for School in which a kilo of rice is given daily to children in pre-schools, day care and grade one levels.
The government has also launched the “Tindahan Natin (Our Store)," where affordable food items are available to consumers, and the “Botika sa Barangay (Village Drugstore)," where commonly used medicines are sold at cheaper rates.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said the government simply has to work harder on the anti-poverty and anti-hunger programs to avoid a repetition or prevent anyone from committing suicide like Marianette Amper.
“It’s a very unfortunate incident. But this government is focused on anti-poverty and anti-hunger programs and we’ll just have to work a little bit more so that incidents like these wont be repeated," he said.
He added that instead of resorting to faultfinding, everyone should just work together and even support the government in its efforts to address the problems of poverty and hunger.
He also said that credit should be given where it is due as the administration has been able to make a headway in its poverty alleviation measures.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the government should not be accused of being callused when it branded the incident as isolated, reiterating that Davao City is not among the targets of the poverty alleviation program.
Duque said he finds it ironic that Amper is from Davao, which is a “Consistent Regional Outstanding Winner in Nutrition" for its successful and sustained hunger mitigation program. The last CROWN award was given by the President Wednesday at the Manila Hotel where the awardees included Davao.
Duque, in a briefing at Malacanang, said while the death of Amper was tragic and unfortunate, authorities should look deeper into possible other causes of her death, including possible pathological problems as it is “abnormal" for a child to commit suicide because of extreme hunger.
He said the Department of Social Welfare and Development is already in touch with the Amper family and is extending all possible assistance to them, including livelihood and financial aid, provisional health insurance for the family, and burial assistance.
He also dismissed possible repetition or copycats. “I don’t think it’s going to happen unless there are pathological underlying reasons. I hope there will be no repetition of this," Duque said.
Education Undersecretary Vilma Labrador said if the parents have instilled stronger values on the students, she does not see any possible repeat of the incident.
Labrador, in the same briefing, said parents should teach and inspire their children to strive harder and do their best no matter regardless of the difficulties.
She also advised teachers to be more sensitive and start conducting home visits, especially whenever their students had been absent for three days or more.
She reminded the teachers that they are the second parents and the students should be able to tell them if they have any problems or even difficulties from submitting or producing projects to problems of lacking allowance, food or transportation fare prompting them to miss school.
Mrs Arroyo noting that Amper, prior to her death, had been absent from school for several days mostly due to lack of transportation fare, ordered the DepEd to expedite and expand the implementation of its distance learning education program.
She said the alternative education program would help address the issue of absences as well as dropouts. The alternative education program uses modules for distance learning, and is very much like the “open universities" offered by colleges and universities for their college and post-graduate courses.
Labrador, in a report to Mrs Arroyo, said the DepEd in Region III (Central Luzon) had just launched its own “Baon Para Kay Bunso" program to assist and entice students to continue attending school even without allowances.
The DSWD has ordered an investigation into the extent of poverty in Davao that reportedly drove an 11-year-old girl to commit suicide.
Radio dzBB reported Thursday that DSWD Secretary Esperanza Cabral ordered the DSWD regional office in Region 11 to check the poverty that drove Marianette to kill herself.
Cabral also ordered the DSWD regional office to extend help to Marianette’s family, despite Health Secretary Francisco Duque III's insistence Wednesday that Marionette’s was an "isolated" case.
Marianette, daughter of a local carpenter, left behind a letter and diary where she asked God to help her parents make ends meet.
She also said she could not go to school because she always lacked money for transportation and food.
Her death saddened the city, whose residents pitched in to provide financial assistance to her family.
Before she died, the girl wrote "Wish Ko Lang," a reality-based program, "wishing" for shoes, clothes, a bag and a bicycle so she could continue going to school. - GMANews.TV
