TACLOBAN CITY – It was all smiles and excitement at the Alangalang National High School Covered Court as 90 students from Alangalang, Leyte, received brand-new bicycles from the local government under Mayor Lovely Yu-Castro’s Libreng Sakay Program.
The recipients — identified as “Learners at Risk of Dropping Out” (LARDOs) — arrived with their parents and teachers to claim the bicycles, which aim to make the daily trip to school easier and help improve attendance and graduation rates.
Mayor Yu-Castro said the simple gesture of giving bicycles could make a big difference in the students’ lives.
“This might be just a bicycle, but through the Libreng Sakay Program, we want to help transform the lives and living conditions of our students until they finish their studies,” she said during the September 16 turnover ceremony.
The mayor also revealed that the municipal government is working with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to provide livelihood opportunities for the families of these students under the Sustainable Livelihood Program — a way to support them beyond the school gates.
Yu-Castro highlighted other education-related initiatives, including the ongoing construction of the Community College of Alangalang at the Municipal Grandstand and the planned Libreng Panaghalian Program of the Local Council for the Protection of Children (LCPC), set to roll out in 2026.
“No matter how difficult life may be, never lose hope because our families’ future will surely improve once we finish our education,” she encouraged the students.
Despite limited municipal funds and national challenges, Yu-Castro assured the community that Alangalang will continue implementing programs and projects that benefit the youth and their families.
School heads, Public Schools District Supervisors Ofelia Alcober and Edgar Cativo, LCPC focal person Lizer Peralta, RSW, and Sangguniang Bayan member who chair the committee on education Ketchie Rex Barrantes were also on hand to witness the joyful distribution.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)
