Collaborating for Filipino communities

A poverty rate reduced to 9% by 2028 is the target set by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for the Philippines. It was in his very first State of the Nation Address (SONA) that he announced this objective, and since then, his administration has been indisputable in its efforts to achieve it. 

Among the other targets the government set for itself, it may be this vow against poverty that is resonating the loudest to the many non-profit organizations concerned with uplifting the country’s marginalized sector and families. 

The time I spent heading Bantay Bata 163 shaped my perspective on the vital role of these movements and foundations in both social welfare and nation building. Such is why I am glad to share my renewed optimism when I found out that many groups continued to step up their work over the years—and that the government’s vow was a call to service strong enough for some to even form partnerships as an answer.

One of the most notable of new unions is the partnership of the Okada Foundation—who continued to make headway with its educational and medical initiatives—with Kabisig ng Kalahi (Kabisig), one of the most prominent civic groups in the country.

If, like me, you’re just as curious about how fruitful the partnership can be, I’m happy to say we won’t be disappointed at all.

Looking back, we can find the Okada Foundation’s footprint in key projects seeking to benefit multiple sectors. Just last year, the three-storey, 12-classroom academic building it granted to the Don Honorio Ventura State University in Apalit, Pampanga was inaugurated, to the delight of the town’s students, parents, teachers, and families. 

Prior to that, the Foundation proved itself to be a wonderful neighbor to its surrounding communities as it became the Parañaque City local government unit’s (LGU) partner in providing medical services, through its annual P12-million pledge to the city.

Coincidentally, where President Marcos himself launched the country’s first human lung transplant program the previous week is the same beneficiary to a P25-million grant from the Okada Foundation in 2020: the Lung Center of the Philippines. (Another P25 million was pledged to the Philippine Heart