Feature: Philippines' street kids get free meals from Duterte's Kitchen

At the tender age of just sixteen Evelyn Francisco is eight months pregnant and has been sleeping rough on the cold, dusty sidewalks in the Cubao district in Metro Manila since 2014.

But while she cannot put a shelter over her head, she can at least find a place to put some food in her belly recently.

The homeless, both young and old in the Cubao district in Metro Manila are able to receive free meals thanks to Duterte's Kitchen that started serving those on the streets with three square meals a day from October.

A pack of hungry street children have become regulars at the feeding center, according to Derek Araquel, the project director of Duterte's Kitchen, which lies along a busy highway in Quezon City.

The kitchen is named after Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, the popular 71-year-old Philippine leader who took office in June this year.

Francisco is among the 50 to 60 homeless street dwellers who regularly eat in the kitchen that opens at 7 a.m.

"The food is delicious," she told Xinhua, as she dug into a bowl of adobo rice toppings. "At least I get to eat three hot meals a day for free."

Araquel said that although homeless, children can thrive on the chaotic streets of Cubao. "They make a living by begging," he said.

"That's how we came up with the idea of organizing a kitchen that caters to the increasing number of street children around this area," Araquel explained.

Duterte's Kitchen now feeds not only street children but also elderly people around the area. "We have hungry adults who now visit the center regularly," he said.

He went on to explain that the kitchen serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. Five volunteers drop by the center to help prepare the daily meals, he added.

"We serve congee and chocolate rice porridge, and when the donations started coming in we started serving regular meals like tinola (a soup-based chicken dish), adobo and rice," Araquel said.

He said the daily menu depends on the ingredients that kind-hearted Filipinos donate, explaining that people show up at the center to bring in pork or chicken, vegetables, sacks of rice, sugar, milk, cocoa powder and spices.

"We discourage people from giving cash. We told them that we'd rather accept food items like rice, meat and spices," he said.

In a country of over 100 million people, the poverty rate in the Philippines now stands at about 22 percent of its population, the country's statistics authority has reported.

The Duterte administration is now finalizing plans of its mission to slash the poverty rate to only 13 percent by 2022, which means pulling 1.5 million Filipinos out of poverty each year.

Since they started operating in October, Araquel said that people also drop by the center to volunteer their services. "Some of the donors stay and help run the center," he said.

Araquel said the kitchen now serves 50 to 60 street children and seniors daily. "We welcome the elderly but our priority is really the children," he said.

"Fridays and Saturdays are our peak days. Children come to participate in parlor games," he said, adding that children look forward to the giveaways that the center offers on weekends.

"We want the children to play with other children and have some fun," Araquel said.

He said the plan is to come up with activities that not only satisfy the rumbling stomachs but also the minds and spirits.

"We would like to make Duterte's Kitchen a family center for these homeless children. We plan to give tutorials at the end of the day, before dinner. We want to teach these kids how to read and write, and how to play the guitar," he said. "We'd like to teach them the value of education."

Araquel added, "We would like to inspire Filipinos with generous hearts and show that the spirit of voluntarism is alive and that Duterte's Kitchen is an avenue for them to practise charity. That's what we hope to achieve."

Araquel voiced hope that similar feeding centers would mushroom in the metropolis and other urban centers all over the country someday.

"The essence of Duterte's Kitchen is not just to feed children but to make them feel that there are people who care and love them," he said.

He said, "We want these children to feel that they are a member of a family."

Duterte's Kitchen has an active 20 donors and volunteers who help man the feeding center.

"The idea clicked. I think the people who want to help found a venue where they can share their resources. That's the spirit of Duterte's Kitchen that we envision," Araquel said, adding he was surprised by the turn out of people who show up every single day to make donations and to volunteer their services.

"We give them an opportunity to serve the poor in their own capacity," he said.

Araquel said that the center keeps track of the children that they feed. "We do profiling as we go along; we keep a journal that contains their names and other personal data."

He said that often some children have been away from their families for months or even years.

The latest figures of street children in the Philippines are difficult to come by, but an estimate by UNICEF in 2011 put numbers in the region at 250,000, many of them adolescents whose parents have separated.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development records show that at least 5,240 children were living on Manila's streets in 2013. Social worker Camille Francisco said it is difficult to track down these children because they move from one place to another.

These children are on the streets not mainly because of poverty, but because of ugly family conditions such as physical or domestic abuse. Some of them can be found under the skyways and bridges. They usually congregate near stop lights to beg, especially during Christmas time.

Pregnant teen Evelyn Francisco, who has been living on the streets since 2014, said she has no family to go home to. Her parents have separated and both remarried. She has three siblings and seven step-brothers and sisters.

She also heard that her mother has moved to an island-province south of Manila. She said that she and her teenage boyfriend, who peddles bottled water to motorists for a living, plan to live with her boyfriend's relative when she gives birth in a few weeks. Endit