Beginning January 2024, Gina Locsin, retired corporate executive, enlisted neighbors to extend the lifeline of education.
Aside from tutoring, retired corporate executive Marivic Añonuevo is involved in several other community care projects.
Marissa Punsalan finds fulfillment in tutoring grade 2 students.
Juxtaposed between the season’s tinsel and the harsh shadow of political corruption, a few simple acts of kindness are quietly weaving redemption for children. In a time overwhelmed by dreary headlines, such small acts of quiet goodness often vanish. Yet, a network of Filipino women—anonymous to the public, relentless in their devotion—continues to hold the line in areas that matter most: education, healthcare, and community care.
Working between careers, motherhood, or retirement, and operating without government funding, these women serve without ceremony. Their impact is measured not in the noise of headlines, but in the steady progress of a child learning to read, a parent finding hope, or a family receiving the lifeline of medical care.
Gina Locsin, in the latest ‘culmination of the Sa Pagbasa May PagAsa tutorial program’ in the Old Balara Elementary School.
One of these quiet efforts is Sa Pagbasa May Pag-Asa, a volunteer-run reading program created by Ayala Heights residents for struggling readers at Old Balara Elementary School in Quezon City. “We started January 2024,” said program head Gina Locsin, a retired multinational executive. “I always wanted to teach, but as the lone CPA in a family of lawyers, the dream had to wait. Retirement let me finally claim it.”
Moppet Gonzales, mother and grandmother, seriously tutors another grade 2 student of Old Balara Elementary School.
Now on its fourth season, the program supports about 45 Grade 2 non-readers. “The ratio is now 1:1,” said volunteer Moppet Gonzales. “Much easier than our first season, when tutors handled five or six kids.”
Each 10-week cycle relies on volunteers—neighbors such as Marivic Añonuevo, Marissa Punsalan, and Ivy Francisco Leung—who describe the work as deeply fulfilling. The effort has since expanded to include volunteers from Ayala Hillside, Capitol Hills Golf, and nearby villages.
They have also built partnerships with Nuestra Señora de la Paz y Buen Viaje Parish college scholars, Diliman College, and National University Fairview, whose professors now help with the sessions. Progress is tracked through pre- and post-tests created by the school’s Reading Coordinator, offering a clear picture of each child’s gains.
What sustains her volunteer teaching group, Locsin said, are the small moments—a principal’s thanks, a parent’s smile, a child reaching for her hand. “Those are more than enough validation.”
In Lipa, Batangas, Maite Leyeza Tarrayo (in khaki pants) and her father, Martin Leyeza, started in 2021 the ’60 Day Reading Challenge’ in two schools. This one in Malitlit Elementary School.
Farther south in Lipa City, Maite Leyeza Tarrayo continues a literacy mission that began in 2021, guided by her father, Martin Leyeza, through their company ComWorks Inc. “We began the program in sync with ComWorks’ 25th anniversary,” she said. “It was pandemic time and we wanted to support a community close to home—Lipa is our hometown.”
The initial Reading Program of the Leyezas advocacy in Anangi Elementary School, Lipa, Batangas.
Their 60-Day Reading Challenge now supports children in Malitlit Elementary School and Anangi Elementary School, where the Leyezas have also helped establish computer rooms, book corners, and better internet connectivity. Unlike traditional tutorials, the program equips parents to guide their children using a structured reading booklet. “The booklet becomes the tool, and the parents become the primary facilitators,” Maite said.
This year, about 60 children are enrolled; since 2021, the program has reached more than 230 young readers. “Together, we continue creating better learning spaces and brighter futures—one child at a time,” she said.
The all women KaladCaring group of 8 continuously sponsor the heart surgeries of children at Philippine General Hospital.
Another group, Kaladkarin, once known only as a circle of friends who loved food and travel, has transformed into a lifeline. The group, now called KaladCaring, learned through pediatric cardiologist Dr. Pia Malanyaon that many children at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) needed heart surgeries their families could not afford. “When we saw those waiting lists, we knew we couldn’t pretend we didn’t,” said Faye Celones. “Friendship brought us together—but compassion gave us purpose.”
SUBHEAD: ‘Friendship brought us together—but compassion gave us purpose’
Under the leadership of Ms. C, a longtime philanthropist who prefers to stay unnamed, the group now helps fund pediatric cardiac surgeries, giving children a renewed chance at a healthy life. “You don’t have to be rich to save a life,” said Joji Bautista. The women—Charito Barter, Emmie Gonzales, Erlie Velasco, Peggy Alfaro, and Blet Castillo—agree. Those who wish to help may reach KaladCaring through Dr. Malanyaon at oqmalanyaon@up.edu.ph.
Meanwhile, Connie Mamaril, pioneer of inbound golf tourism through Regent Travel Corp. and president of the Silliman University Alumni Association Metro Manila Chapter, continues her quiet tradition of extending mobility and dignity to those in need.
Known for her decades-long advocacy for healthcare, Mamaril continues to donate wheelchairs to airports, hospitals, and charitable institutions—small interventions that profoundly change entire lives. A regular beneficiary of community care is Little Children of the Phil Inc., HOPE village in Dumaguete City, Philippines which houses abused kids.
In a year defined by noise, excess, and uncertainty, these women remind us that the most powerful acts often happen quietly. Their mission is measured one reader, one patient, one child at a time.
