Former Philippine vice president Leni Robredo recently met with Filipinos in Southern California and Nevada to seek more support for her foundatiotion, "Angat Buhay."

Robredo, who sits as chairperson of the NGO, promoted Angat Buhay's advocacy that she started in her days as vice president.

The foundation focuses on poverty alleviation efforts through education, climate, nutrition, as well as the arts.

"This is definitely the closest to my heart because this is what I’ve been focusing on since the end of my term as vice president," said Robredo.

The U.S. chapter of Angat Buhay was launched in 2023 and has since gained non-profit status. The organization looks to spread awareness on various issues and hold fundraising events on a global scale.

"This is the first fundraising event we’re having in the U.S.," said Camille Genuino. "We hope to kickstart the fundraising in other Filipino communities all over the U.S. and Canada."

The said fundraiser was held at Tito's of Manila in West Covina.

It was the same place where Robredo's Filipino-American supporters held a massive "Pink Caravan" event to support her presidential campaign in 2022.

This time around, supporters came in to raise over $35,000 as Robredo spoke about Angat Buhay, its accomplishments, and goals.

"The idea of having more U.S. presence is really to encourage more 'Kababayans' that are here to be really more involved in our programs in the Philippines," she said.

Robredo added: "A lot of people will always ask us how to help. Most of our 'Kababayans' want to help but they don’t know how and we’re looking at Angat Buhay as a platform for that."

Angat Buhay USA's Roger Santos said they will seek to partner with companies that have operations in the Philippines.

"[It's] to build more partnerships," he said. "It’s very fulfilling and just getting that numbers [show] the need to help our Kababayans."

Robredo admitted that life after politics has been much busier with her advocacies. But she added that it wasn’t a difficult transition, since this was her life before entering politics.

Before entering politics, the lawyer recalled that she was a development worker. She went on to become a congresswoman for her hometown Camarines Sur, before becoming vice president in 2016.

"The lesson really is you don’t need a title," Robredo said. "You don’t need a government position for you to be able to help. It's the same message we want to spread across many Filipino communities."

While in Southern California, Robredo also attended the Visual Communications Asian Pacific American film festival where she was the subject of the Ramona S. Diaz documentary “And So It Begins.”