MUSLIM community leader Abdul Asis Sr. has every reason to smile despite being poor.

Apart from the regular aid he gets from generous friends and neighbors to enable him to support a family of 15, the 64-year-old father feels truly blessed to have received an even bigger “gift” recently.

Abdul finally realized his long-time wish to have a cleft palate operation for his four-year-old son when President Arroyo’s People’s Government Mobile Action (PGMA) Caravan conducted for the first time a five-day surgical mission on the island-province of Masbate.

“This is a gift I will always treasure. I don’t have a single centavo for this operation, that’s why it’s such a big thing that the PGMA Caravan passed through our place. I thank her so much,” an emotional Abdul said in Filipino.       

The surgical mission was spearheaded by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor), the overall project coordinator of PGMA, in cooperation with the Department of Health, the Philippine Academy of Medical Specialists, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and the Masbate Provincial Government, headed by Gov. Elisa Olga Kho.

A total of 704 patients suffering from various cases such as myoma, hernia, cataract, cyst, club foot and cleft palate benefited from the activity.

Pagcor Chairman Efraim Genuino said the mission was President Arroyo’s way of reaching out to people who cannot afford to spend on expensive medical operations.

“The activity was in compliance with the President’s directive to Pagcor and other agencies involved in the PGMA project to visit the 10 poorest provinces in the Philippines and bring the government direct to the people,” Chairman Genuino said.

Meanwhile, Governor Kho expressed her deepest gratitude to President Arroyo and the agencies behind the PGMA project for picking their province as the launching site of the first-ever surgical mission.

THE Department of Education has tapped the assistance of the National Police and the Armed Forces to ensure the smooth and orderly conduct of the synchronized Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections.  

A FEW days before the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections on Monday, the National Youth Commission (NYC) on Thursday said much-needed reforms must be put in place to ensure the relevance of the SK, the country’s only institution for youth-leadership development in the community level.

WHAT ouster move?

This was the question of Nicasio Conti, Commissioner for Legal Affairs of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), after his name was dragged into supposed moves to oust incumbent chairman Camilo Sabio.

THE Supreme Court (SC) has affirmed the dismissal of 227 employees of Toyota Motor Philippines Corp., one of the country’s largest vehicle manufacturers, for conducting illegal strikes on February and May 2001 which crippled the company’s operations and resulted in losses amounting to more than P53 million.

MUSLIM community leader Abdul Asis Sr. has every reason to smile despite being poor.

Apart from the regular aid he gets from generous friends and neighbors to enable him to support a family of 15, the 64-year-old father feels truly blessed to have received an even bigger “gift” recently.

THERE were no telltale signs that the explosion that rocked Glorietta 2 in Makati two Fridays ago was the handiwork of terrorists, an Israeli security expert now in Manila said.

SUBIC BAY FREE  PORT— Worship and warship met here by chance on Sunday as two groups—one arriving for war exercises and the other for a peace mission—shared the waters of Subic Bay.