INFANTA, Pangasinan –The Infanta Police targets to donate a total of 1,000 pairs of rubber slippers to indigenous children of Igorot and Kankana-ey tribes in barangays Pita and Babuyan here this year.
PO2 Diane Catama, Infanta Asst. Police Community Relation Officer in an interview Thursday, said their station has been donating slippers since 2015 as part of their community outreach program.
“We have chosen the two barangays as the recipients of ‘Isang Libong Tsinelas Handog ni Mamang at Aleng Pulis’ because these barangays are in the mountainous areas and they are far from the town proper, hence it is difficult for them to buy slippers for their children considering that they are in poverty-stricken areas,” Catama said.
She added “some parents in these barangays have opted to use their money for food instead of slippers for their children”.
Last year, the Infanta Police collected from different donors, including non-government organizations, a total of 1,010 rubber slippers that were donated to the children in the two barangays, Catama said.
“As of January this year, we have already turned-over 450 slippers to the children and we are still gathering more donations to complete the 1, 000 or more slippers,” she said.
Catama said that even the police personnel of their station have pledged part of their salary for the said project.
“We are still accepting donations as we plan to distribute again this May 23,” Catama said. (PNA)
