Resolution commending Pinoy CNN hero pending at Senate

MANILA, Philippines - A resolution commending 28-year-old Efren Peñaflorida, one of the 10 Cable News Network (CNN) Heroes, has remained pending for approval at the Senate.

The CNN broadcast network is set to host a “celebratory” rally on Monday at 1 p.m. at the Music Hall of the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City to show support for Peñaflorida.

Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. filed Resolution 1403, but the Senate failed to approve it because it was not discussed before Congress went into recess last Oct. 14.

In the resolution, Villar recommended that Peñaflorida and his Dynamic Teen Co. (DTC) be lauded for their outstanding achievement, which the international community has recognized.

Villar said Peñaflorida, also known as “Kuya Ef,” deserves to be recognized and commended by his own country.

Peñaflorida was chosen from over 9,000 submissions from 100 countries as one of the Top 10 CNN Heroes, which spotlights everyday citizens accomplishing extraordinary deeds.

He was cited for his work with the DTC, which has brought education to Cavite City’s street children. 

Peñaflorida will be awarded $25,000 — and is eligible for the $100,000 award that will be bestowed upon the CNN Hero Of The Year later this month at a star-studded gala in Hollywood, California.

The public will select the CNN hero via voting at the CNN Heroes site at www.CNN.com/Heroes through  Nov. 18. 

Hosted by CNN’s Anderson Cooper and taped at the famed Kodak Theatre, CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute will air on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 19, at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

For the past 12 years, Peñaflorida and his team of teen volunteers taught basic reading and writing to children living on the streets.

Their main tool: A pushcart classroom.

A feature story on the CNN website noted that the DTC created a school setting in unconventional locations such as cemetery and municipal trash dump. The pushcart is stocked with books, pens, tables and chairs and even serves as classroom.

Today, children ranging from aged two to 14 flock to the pushcart every Saturday to learn reading, writing, arithmetic and English from Peñaflorida and his trained teen volunteers.

The DTC’s 10,000 members have taught basic reading and writing to 1,700 kids living in the slums.

The CNN cited Peñaflorida’s group for being able to send promising children to formal school – among them a former pickpocket and solvent addict, gang members, street beggars and abandoned children. Some of these former street kids are now young professionals who devote their spare time to DTC as volunteers.

Peñaflorida knew firsthand the adversity faced by these children because he himself was born into a poor family and lived in a shanty near the city dumpsite.

Bullied by gang members as a teenager, he refused to allow his circumstances to define his future. He saw education as the key to a better life and organized his classmates to help the children who roamed the streets of Cavite. 

More than 1,450 are expected to attend the event at MOA this Monday, Guests would likely include Cavite City Mayor Bernardo Paredes, about 250 DTC volunteers, Cavite City street children and their parents, some 1,000 students of The Palmridge School in Cavite City, Efren’s family and friends, 200+ Facebook friends, youth band Hale and surprise celebrities. – Christina Mendez