Robin visits Maguindanao upland town, help disperse aid

SOUTH UPI, Maguindanao - - Movie action star Robin Padilla took time out Thursday to delight the townsfolk here after heading a drought relief mission that benefited over 1,000 families.Padilla brought with him 300 bags of rice apart from an assortment of other relief goods.This agricultural town with 11 villages is one of the most severely affected areas by the ill-effects of El Nino phenomenon, a periodic dry spell that began since November last year.The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), through its Humanitarian Emergency Action and Response Team (HEART), has earlier served all the villages here benefitting 13,984 families.Padilla, for his part, is to extend assistance to 1,295 families of Barangay Romongaob that remained unserved” according to ARMM-HEART field officer Myrna Jocelyn Henry.Padilla, who also marked the event by launching here his All For Peace Movement, vowed to solicit more donations from co-workers in the movie industry. Wag po tayong mawawalan ng pag-asa. Tulong-tulong po tayo (Let us not lose hope. Let us help one another),” the actor told a jam-packed crowd at the town gymnasium here.Only last month, he also helped thousands of drought - affected farmers in North Cotabato following a weeklong mass demonstration that ended in a violent clash with anti-riot cops.Padilla said he would join a relief mission next week in Lanao del Sur, another ARMM province component, promising he would try his best on bringing along other compassionate colleagues with the likes of Vice Ganda, Angel Locsin, Luis Manzano, Anne Curtis and his wife Mariel Rodriguez – Padilla, among others. (PNA)NYP/