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FIRST LADY OPENS HOME FOR STREET CHILDREN

San Juan, Metro Manila, Sept. 21, 1998 - First Lady Dr. Loi Ejercito Estrada has inaugurated a center for Metro Manila's street children in an affluent neighborhood of San Juan, Metro Manila.

The two-storey house center, with 16 rooms, was established through a tie-up between the Alfonso Yuchengco Foundation and the Educational Research and Development Assistance (ERDA) Foundation.

In her speech at the inaugural rites, the First Lady said one of her pet projects, the Batang Lansangan, has a similar objective with that of the NGO-corporate partnership, which established the "Ma. Elena Yuchengco House ERDA Tuklasan" project.

She said she is pursuing the Batang Lansangan project because of the increasing number of street children roaming Metro Manila streets.

"I have been networking with various government agencies and NGOs because this project is something I would like to pursue very seriously. I know this is a very ambitious goal but it is something for which I am willing to work very hard," she said.

During the inauguration the First Lady met ERDA president Fr. Pierre Tritz, a French Jesuit priest who settled in the Philippines in 1965 to start his mission to educate poor children.

The First Lady also called on the two foundations to work together and pool their resources to attend to the needs of the street kids.

The First Lady noted that ERDA under Fr. Tritz, has brought to school 80,000 street children since 1974.

"Truly, ERDA Foundation and its projects are works of love and commitment. I commend the foundation and its movers for the work it has achieved in the last 23 years," she said.

The inauguration also coincided with the 24th anniversary of the ERDA Foundation and the 84th birthday of Fr. Tritz.

Reported by: Sol Jose Vanzi