The beneficiaries are members of the PILTOP (Pinag-isang Lakas ng Taxi Drayber at Operator ng Pilipinas), a big organization of taxi drivers and operators.
Mr. Arroyo and Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. led the distribution of the dentures to 96 PILTOP members in simple rites yesterday at the Reno Legacy Transport Corp. (RLTC) compound in Batasan Hills, Quezon City.
RLTC taxi drivers constitute the initial batch of beneficiaries from PILTOP, which is also the first private organization to benefit from the free dentures project of the First Gentleman. PILTOP has over 4,000 members in Metro Manila.
William Apilar, 30, representing the PILTOP beneficiaries, conveyed his thanks to the First Gentleman and President Arroyo, on behalf of his group.
Apilar thanked Mr. Arroyo not only for the dentures he got but also for the free accident insurance extended to PILTOP members in 2003.
"Totoo pong ito ang mga ginagawa nila sa ating mahihirap," he said.
He added that the insurance policy given him proved truly beneficial for his family when he met a serious accident in Batasan Hills on Valentine’s Day last year, where his taxi was totally wrecked and he suffered bone injuries.
The injuries, he said, caused his confinement for more than a month at the East Avenue Medical Center, and the proceeds of his free accident insurance policy provided him by Mr. Arroyo helped tide over his family while he was unable to work.
Alex Bulaon, PILTOP president who is also from RLTC, said the next group of their members slated to benefit from Mr. Arroyo’s Bagong Ngiti sa Dating Ngebu project are those assigned at the airport. They will be joined by drivers from other transport companies.
"When toothless drivers get their dentures, they will become more confident in interacting with their passengers," Bulaon said.
He also thanked the First Gentleman for his concern for the taxi drivers, particularly PILTOP members.
Belmonte, for his part, lauded Mr. Arroyo’s free dentures project which, he said, "vividly reflects his simplicity and genuine concern for the disadvantaged."
In response, the First Gentleman said his project is actually at the behest of Mrs. Arroyo.
"Order po ito ni Misis, I’m just the implementor," he said.
Batasan Hills barangay chairman Rannie Ludovica, representing his village council, said his constituents, 70 percent of whom are urban poor settlers, are also beneficiaries of the President’s various programs and projects, particularly housing.
Originally conceived by the First Gentleman as a special project for toothless poor vendors from public markets in Metro Manila, the free dentures project has now expanded its service outreach to various groups, including public school teachers and other government workers.
The other beneficiaries of the Bagong Ngiti sa Dating Ngebu project are uniformed and civilian personnel of the police and the military, including the Presidential Security Group (PSG), and their dependents, Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) traffic enforcers and metro aides, park attendants, PGH employees, Department of Public Works and Highways-National Capital Region (DPWH-NCR) street sweepers and employees, mediamen and indigent residents of Pampanga and Isabela.