10,000 families receive food packages through GTFI’s ‘Bags of Blessing’

MANILA, Philippines — Some 10,000 families received P10 million worth of food packages through GT Foundation Inc. (GTFI) and Metrobank Foundation Inc. (MBFI)’s annual tradition dubbed “Bags of Blessing” on Chinese New Year’s Day over the weekend.

A total of 25 cities and municipalities across the National Capital Region (NCR), Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao were chosen to serve as distribution areas for the initiative’s eighth edition this year.

Some 400 families from Manila received assistance during the “Bags of Blessing” distribution’s main event held at the Universidad de Manila in Ermita, Manila.

Metrobank Group chairman Arthur Ty, Federal Land chairman and GTFI president Alfred Ty, GTFI honorary chair Mary Ty, GTFI vice president Anjanette Dy-Buncio and MBFI president and GTFI executive director Aniceto Sobrepeña led the gift-giving activity.

Manila Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) regional director for NCR Vicente Gregorio Tomas and Manila Department of Social Welfare director Ma. Asuncion Fugoso also attended the event.

“Bags of Blessing” is the brainchild of the late Metrobank Group founder and chairman Dr. George Ty Siao Kian. Since its inception in 2011, it has become an instrument in giving back to underprivileged families and providing an opportunity for them to take part in the Chinese New Year celebration.

The activity was inspired by the traditional ang pao, a red envelope containing cash used to deliver best wishes, luck and good energy. Instead of cash-giving, specially designed red bags containing P1,000 worth of food packages – rice, canned goods, milk, sugar, noodles and other basic commodities – are distributed to indigent families.

“‘Bags of Blessing’ is really about giving back to the community. It’s trying to share what you have and hopefully it puts some meaning and difference in their lives,” Dy-Buncio said.

Beneficiaries were carefully selected by the DSWD and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) through its network of dioceses and archdioceses.

Other than belonging to the status of living below the poverty line, families affected by recent calamities, indigenous peoples and non-beneficiaries of DSWD’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) were also given priority.

“Sharing and reaching out to our neighbors is not a novel act for the organization. Heart for the community has always been at the core of what we do and ‘Bags of Blessing,’ which is now on its eighth year, is rooted in that very idea. Amid the festivities of the Chinese New Year, we aim to provide aid to those in the peripheries of society,” Sobrepeña said.

Leaders and employees from the network of Metrobank branches as well as the various subsidiaries and affiliates of GT Capital Holdings and the Metrobank Group participated in the series of gift-giving activities.

Key partners included the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police, who provided security and logistical support, in coordination with concerned local government units and Catholic archdioceses.