NEW SCHOOL. McDonald’s officials led by Romeo Bachoco and Meryl Adiel Timbol, Mayor Ric Rivera, Barangay Chief Bucud and students display happy faces during the inauguration of the P1-million day care center in San Jose, Guagua, Pampanga on Thursday.
Photo by Ric Gonzales
GUAGUA, Pampanga – McDonald’s Philippines through its charity office named after its famous character turned over on Thursday the P1-million day care center in a remote village here, benefitting children who are exposed to danger when going to the nearest schools.
McDonald’s Executive Vice President and Chief Finance Officer Romeo Bachoco and Guagua Mayor Ricardo Rivera led the inauguration of the Bahay Bulilit Day Care Center in Barangay San Jose, whose residents had to walk for several kilometers and cross a national highway to reach the nearest day care centers in Barangays San Juan and Natividad.
Bachoco is the treasurer of the Ronald McDonald’s House Charities (RMHC), which turned over a total of 22day care centers in the country since it was founded in 1995.
Mayor Rivera thanked the RMHC, saying “this is good for my people, especially the children.”
The municipal government donated the lot for the day care center which has two rooms that can accommodate 50 pupils aged four to six years old.
San Jose Barangay Captain Mariano Bucud said “they could now sleep well at night because their children will not be in danger when going to school.”
The Municipal Social Welfare office will handle the day-to-day operations of the day care center.
Bachoco said the RMCH was created to uplift children’s lives through programs that address their basic need for shelter, education and happiness.
He disclosed that the RMHC had also focused on reading which they described as “equally essential aspects of a child’s development.”
The Bright Minds Project (BMR) is the second priority project of the RMHC. It aimed to provide public school teachers with brochures to “inspire them to work better and more effectively.”
“We just want the respective LGU to also commit and be a part of the project. If we give 20 brochures, then have to give 20 also,” said Bachoco. He added that the teaching brochues cost about P10,000 each.
Meryl Adiel Timbol, public relations and communications manager of McDonald’s and RMHC, disclosed that they have 27 branches in Central Luzon, 12 of which are in Pampanga.
The purely Filipino-owned McDonald’s company has close to 330 branches in the country, she added.
Timbol said McDonald’s established its first outlet outside of Metro Manila in 1983. It was in Dau, Mabalacat, Pampanga.
