By Raymund Antonio

Despite limitations of her office, Vice President Leni Robredo has given herself a passing grade for her performance during her first three years as the country’s second top official.

Robredo, a former housing chief, said she was able to pursue her anti-poverty advocacies to help the communities in need nationwide.

“Kami naman, for the past three years, nagtrabaho kami despite the limitations. Tingin ko pagdating sa pag-maximize ng opportunities, nagawa namin iyon,” she said in Ocampo, Camarines Sur on Thursday.

(We, for the past three years, have worked despite the limitations. I think when it comes to maximizing opportunities, we have done that.)

The Vice President was asked in a media interview how she would assess her performance during the first half of her term in office.

Robredo acknowledged that a lot of work still has to be done to uplift the lives of people from poverty.

“Sobrang dami pa ng kailangang gawin. Sobrang dami pa ng mga communities na kailangang tulungan. Sobrang kulang ng panahon, kulang na kulang iyong resources,” she said.

(We have much work to do. There are still many communities that are in need of help. We lack time and resources.)

“Less than three years iyong naiiwan sa amin, para kaming naghahabol—naghahabol na at least pagdating sa finish line, mas marami kaming buhay na nabago,” Robredo added.

(With less than three years left, it seemed we are catching up so that at least when we reach the finish line, we have changed more lives.)

True enough, Robredo visited Ocampo, Camarines Sur for the turnover of P2 million in aid to support local farmers there as part her flagship anti-poverty program, Angat Buhay.

The funds will be used for the construction of tunnel-type greenhouses, water tanks, and water systems for irrigation they need for vegetable farming. The farmer beneficiaries were members of May-Ogob Agrarian Reform Cooperative.

During the visit, Robredo spoke with the farmers, who are among the poorest in the country.

“Ito, basically, mga vegetable farmers na tine-training natin at nili-link natin sa markets. Mayroon na tayong mga institutional buyers na nag-commit na bibili ng produkto nila, pero kulang pa talaga sila sa gamit, kulang pa sa kaalaman, so iyon iyong ipo-provide ng aming office,” she said.

(These, basically, are vegetable farmers whom we train and link to markets. We already have institutional buyers who committed to buy their products, but they lack equipment and knowledge so our office provides that.)

Under Angat Buhay, the Office of the Vice President has partnered with more than 321 private organizations in mobilizing P343 million worth of resources that benefited around 400,000 families since October 2016.

Robredo’s office was also able to provide P598 million worth of medical assistance to more than 45,842 individuals, in partnership with the private sector.