CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga -- Police personnel from the different units of Police Regional Office III (PRO-Central Luzon) used their own initiative, money and time to put together a project that will change the life of a mendicant couple.
The ORPRMS, RFMB 3, ROD, RPDEU3 and San Luis Municipal Police Station led by Force Commander Senior Superintendent Joyce Patrick Sangalang and ORPRMS Chief Superintendent Rommel Batangan shared resources and efforts in helping a sexagenarian couple asking for alms in the City of San Fernando proper with a brand new bike with sidecar, half sack of rice, canned goods, clothes and hygiene kits. Four trays of “balut” were also given to them as their initial capital in selling the street food using the bike with sidecar.
The old couple, identified as Reynaldo and Anita Antonio, travels a long way from their residence in Barangay Pasig, Candaba, Pampanga to the City of San Fernando and begs every day to sustain their daily need for food as Reynaldo is visually impaired and they are both jobless.
“We have decided to give them this bike with sidecar to discourage them from begging but instead encourage them to earn on their own. In this way, we are really helping them live, not just for a day but for the rest of their lives,” Sangalang said.
“Like an old saying, ‘Teach them how to fish and they won’t get hungry again,’ this is what your police are doing. We are not only serving and protecting their lives. We also teach them how to live decently,” Batangan added.
“I commend our police officers headed by Senior Supt. Sangalang and Supt. Batangan for going an extra mile. Your police do not only go after lawless elements, we also help ease poverty and change lives in our own little way,” PRO-3 Director PCSupt. Joel Napoleon M. Coronel stated. (PR)