'Hero' honoured for peddling hope

Manila: Efren Peñaflorida, who reaped admiration for bringing education to the underprivileged in Cavite through his pushcart school, arrived in Manila to a hero's welcome after being recognised as one among ‘10 Heroes of the Year' by CNN.

A video footage showed the 28-year-old being welcomed by relatives and the press at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in suburbay Pasay City,

Peñaflorida was among the nominees initially selected by a panel of 14 ‘Blue Panel' luminaries.

The ‘Hero of the Year' award was given to the one with the most number of online votes on the CNN Heroes' website. Peñaflorida, known as "Kuya Ef" to his wards, said in the television interview that he is an ordinary individual trying to make a difference under extraordinary circumstances.

"I am no different. I am just an ordinary person. I will continue plying the streets with my pushcart classroom," he said.

Highest honour

Peñaflorida, who arrived from the US Thursday — where he received the awards in ceremonies at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood last Sunday — is expected to receive the Order of Lakandula, one of the highest honours given by the Philippines government, from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Friday.

"Efren has indeed proven that any individual can help make a difference in the world. He has also shown the world the best in the Filipinos. Let each one of us unleash the hero within us by helping the next person as Efren said," the president said in a statement issued on Sunday night.

Along with the award, Peñaflorida received $100,000 (Dh367,308), an amount he said, he will use to fund his work in the Dynamic Teen Company (DTC), a volunteer organisation that he put up to conduct his "Kariton Klasrum" programme.

The DTC members will also be honoured at the palace on Friday.

Peñaflorida said he will use the money he received to replicate the rolling classroom concept across the country.

Instrumental

Peñaflorida and the DTC was instrumental in changing the lives of dozens of street urchins and gang members in Cavite, a province at the southern fringes of Manila. Peñaflorida had said that as a youngster, he had suffered being bullied in school.

"Gang members are groomed in the slums as early as nine years old," says Peñaflorida. "They are all victims of poverty."

For the past 12 years, Peñaflorida and his team of teen volunteers have taught basic reading and writing to children living on the streets. Their main tool: A pushcart classroom.