MANILA, Philippines — Disasters automatically trigger the bayanihan
spirit among Filipinos. Individuals, from young children to professionals,
naturally find it in their hearts to pitch in to help.
This spirit has been the lifeblood, too, of GMAKapuso Foundation
(GMAKF) especially after the tragedy that was brought about by typhoon Sendong
last December.
Recognizing the need to rebuild the lives of some of the victims, GMAKF
is now building 200 new houses in barangay Mandulog, Iligan City for families
whose houses were washed away by the flood.
Mel Tiangco , GMAKF’s executive vice president and chief operating
officer, says they will build the resettlement area this month using donations
of more than P69 million cash and P18 million worth in kind.
“We just can’t use the money for relief operations alone. We really
looked for something where we can place the money in. So we joined forces with
the local government of Iligan, the Department of Public Works and Highways
(DPWH), and the National Housing Authority to work on this project. We have identified
an area where the victims can resettle in,” Tiangco says.
MAKING SURE THEY
ARE SAFE
With a land area of approximately 1,000 hectares and situated 7.7
kilometers away from the City proper, barangay Mandulog is connected by a
farm-to-market road. It has around 700 households with 245 houses initially
declared either totally or partially damaged.
Through the help of the LGU of Iligan, GMAKF identified an area for the
resettlement site. Athree-hectare lot was given by the Iligan government on
where the village will soon rise.
But first, they had to make sure that the area is safe.
“We talked with the Mines and Geosciences Bureau of the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to know if the area in Mandulog is
safe and not a hazard to the community. They gave a go signal but their only
advice is to build a dike by the river, although it is located far from the
site,” Tiangco explains.
The dike will be constructed by the DPWH as their counterpart equity
for the project. The building of 120 houses is expected to be finished by
August. The second phase, with 80 houses, is scheduled to be done in November.
In terms of the infrastructure, project engineer Ed Eniego assures that
the design of the houses follows the National Building Code to ensure the
safety of its dwellers. In addition, the houses and buildings have reinforced
design to further adhere to the safety codes.
“We use our standard reinforced design but in this case, we’re not
expecting that the area is vulnerable to floods. This is why we specifically
located this area for that reason. The design is in compliance to the national
standards,” Eniego shares.
BUILDING A
COMMUNITY
But more than just providing roof on the victims’ heads, GMAKF is
building a community that is envisioned to have a barangay center, a covered
court, a proper water system, and of course, a school.
“We are building a school in the village. We’re not building just
houses, we’re building a community. Our priority is to rebuild their lives by
providing them the necessary infrastructure,” Tiangco says.
The beneficiary-families are not relocated far from where they used to
live so that they can continue whatever livelihood they are engaging in. GMAKF
is also looking at providing more livelihood opportunities for the families who
will settle in the village.
In terms of screening who will get ownership of the houses, GMAKF
created a committee that identifies, verifies, and screens beneficiaries. Those
living in Mandulog, whose houses are extremely damaged or were completely
washed away, are eligible to obtain ownership.
“Number one criterion is that they should be Sendong victims. Another
is that their house must be extremely damaged to a point that it is not anymore
liveable. So we’re going be very strict with those rules. The committee is also
in charge of the rules on the use of the houses like they cannot sell it to
someone else,” Tiangco says.
EDUCATION,HEALTHCARE
PLUS
GMAKF hopes to continue to provide care for underprivileged citizens of
the country. Two of its major thrusts are to help provide quality of education
and healthcare in the country.
They have been receiving numerous requests from organizations and
individuals in need of help. For instance, schools across the country have
approached the foundation to help rehabilitate their schools, especially since
GMAKF is known to help build classrooms in public schools. For this reason,
they have widened their school rehabilitation project called Kapuso School
Development (KSD) project.
In 2011, the foundation completed the construction of eight new classrooms
in three public elementary schools in Pangasinan, Zambales and Camarines Sur.
They have helped install a water supply and hand washing facility in Mascap
Elementary School in Rizal, where they also built three classrooms back in
2010.
They also initiated fundraisers such as the “Ogie and Regine’s
Celebrity Ukay-Ukay”, which was able to collect more than P6 million of funds,
part of which went to the construction of classrooms of Adriangao High School
in Camarines Sur.
“Ifeel strongly about education. Ifeel the need to really push
education projects. It has become very personal to me. This year, if there are
still funds left from the Sendong fund, we will build more schools in the
future. But for now, we’re focusing on the village,” Tiangco says.
They also provide medical assistance to indigent patients through its
Kalusugan Karavan. Also, under their Give-A-Gift project, the Foundation has
fed hundreds of malnourished children via its 120-day feeding program, while a
select few underwent cancer treatment and some had surgery for hernia.
This year, GMAKF is looking forward to strengthen its regional reach
through adding more regional chapters like the Davao and Dagupan chapters
adding to the newly launched branches in Cebu and Iloilo.
ANGELO G. GARCIA
mb.com.ph
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