A TOTAL of 45 children in Bacolod City received P6,000 worth of gift certificates from the Senate Spouses Foundation Inc. (SSFI) on Wednesday, November 19, 2025.
The event was led by Ciara Sotto, daughter of Senate President Tito Sotto, who represented her mother, Helen Gamboa, in partnership with SM City Bacolod.
Sotto said it has been a yearly tradition of the SSFI since the 1990s to help indigent children in the country.
She said the program started in Manila, and they want to reach other regions.
“We do this every year to bring the kids to the shopping mall and make them happy,” she added.
Sotto noted that they choose children aged 5 to 15 who have not been to a mall.
She said the 45 beneficiaries were identified by the local government from various barangays.
“We want them to be happy this Christmas. It’s the role of the SSFI to help the children as well as their parents,” she said.
She added that after Bacolod City, the SSFI will visit Laguna.
Aside from giving gifts to children, the SSFI also put up a Senate Assist table at the SM City Atrium.
Senate Assist accommodated a total of 102 beneficiaries, all residents of Bacolod City.
Lino Ong, Senate Public Assistance Office (SPAO) general director, said Senate Assist was established during the pandemic for online assistance.
He said that every day, at least 600 individuals from the National Capital Region (NCR) sought help from the Senate.
“We came up with an idea to make it an online application to reach other provinces in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao,” he added.
Ong noted that the SSFI began conducting programs in various regions during the term of Senate President Chiz Escudero.
He said Senate Assist offers medical and social assistance. (MAP)