(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte is looking for 2009 CNN Hero of the Year awardee, Efren Peñaflorida, so he could be the new chair of the Presidential Commission on Urban Poor (PCUP).
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque confirmed this, saying special assistant to the President Bong Go had been assigned to find Peñaflorida, known for his “Kariton Klasrum,” through which he helps provide education to street children.
Peñaflorida is a teacher from Cavite City which started his “Kariton Klasrum,” an improvised education on wheels that aims to reach out to poor streetkids, encouraging them to go back to school.
Last January 2015, the Department of Education has also replicated and adopted this classroom on wheels.
It was in 2009 that Peñaflorida had been chosen Hero of the Year by CNN for the pushcart classroom that aims to bring education to poor children as an alternative to gang membership, and received $100,000 to continue his work with the nongovernment organization Dynamic Teen Company (DTC).
Last week, President Duterte has fired PCUP commissioners led by former Sangguniang Kabataan Partylist Representative Teddy Ridon.
Ridon had reportedly travelled seven times since he was appointed as PCUP chair in September last year, although Ridon claimed these foreign trips had the authorization of Malacanang.
