CAMP AGUINALDO, Quezon City – The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) received 29 boxes of care packages from the University of the Philippines Cadet Alumni Organization (UPCAO) intended for soldiers and school children in the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG) fronting the West Philippine Sea in Palawan on Monday, May 30.
Boxes of food supplies, drinking water, and toiletries will go to troops deployed in KIG detachments. Other goods such as milk, biscuits, school supplies and materials will be distributed to the children in the Islands that compose the Kalayaan Group.
Troops will also get various creative letters of gratitude and artworks from students of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, Manila.
The AFP Deputy Chief of Staff for Civil Military Operations, Brigadier General Gabriel Viray, received the donations in a ceremony held at the UP Department of Military Science and Tactics in Diliman, Quezon City.
The morale-boosting package is a project of the UPCAO and UP Reserve Training Officers' Corps (UP ROTC) led by Ms. Maria Christina Cecilla Hernandez.
Brigadier General Viray expressed the AFP leadership's gratitude to the UPCAO and UP ROTC for sustaining the KIG Care Package Project and facilitating activities that foster stronger ties between the AFP and the Filipino people.
"This project serves as a testament to the Filipino people's solidarity with the AFP in protecting our sovereignty against the incursions of foreign entities into our maritime borders, air space, and exclusive economic zones," he said.
On the other hand, the Corps Commander of the UP Corps of Cadets, Cadet Lt. Col. Vienna Kaye Lagdaan said the small gesture sought to uplift soldiers' morale and serve as a reminder that they are one with the AFP in protecting the country's territory.
"This endeavor proves that no matter what sector you represent, as a student, as a public servant, or as a serviceman, you can be a channel of blessing to other people. I hope this brings inspiration to my fellow youth and the Filipino people to continually be passionate about volunteerism in any way possible," she said.
The UP partnered with different sponsors and donors who shared their resources and volunteers to organize the handover of care packages.
The UPCAO started sending care packages in 2013 for soldiers assigned in BRP Sierra Madre stationed at Ayungin Shoal and other detachments in the West Philippine Sea. This initiative was repeated in 2015, which included students of Pag-Asa Island as beneficiaries.///(Photos by TSg Orlando Liwag PAF/PAOAFP)
