***12 October 2016

Georgina Hernandez Spokesperson, Office of the Vice President***

Vice President Leni Robredo’s dream is to have a Philippines that is free from poverty.

This has been her advocacy long before she became a politician, a dream that was shaped by her years as a community organizer, NGO worker, and lawyer for poor Filipinos.

Angat Buhay, a comprehensive anti-poverty framework and initiative by the Office of the Vice President is one of the many effective solutions to build our nation.

Our desire is to start working and concretizing solutions and to complement the efforts of this administration.

Poverty is a big and complex issue that has been the bane of our country, if not the world.

The urgency of the problem cannot be overstated. It goes beyond one’s political ideology.

It requires governments to recognize their limitations. It requires all of us to go beyond self-interest, because having all hands on board should be the order of the day.

The OVP believes that ending poverty should not be seen as a competition, but a collaboration of all capable parties.

Nobody has the monopoly of good intentions, the desire to serve the public, and models of how to address poverty.

There should be no limit to generosity and helping, and everyone should find it in themselves to contribute to the bigger fight.

We must remember that at the end of this dark tunnel of poverty is not the glorification of any individual or group, but the empowerment of the Filipino family.