Pascal Canning, 51, an Irishman, came to the Philippines on March 15, 2006, a few weeks after a landslide covered the entire village of Guinsaugon in St. Bernard, Southern Leyte. He found his wife Eden Lida from Maasin City and they married in 2008.
Like many foreigners who marry locals, Canning got used to the humdrum of rural life, until he opened a new beach hotel named Caimito.
Canning and his wife busied themselves with the day-to-day operation of the hotel, welcoming guests, foreigners and locals alike, to their resort.
Then supertyphoon Yolanda pounded Leyte and Samar on Nov. 8, 2013,  killing more than 6,000 people and flattening more than 1 million houses.
Canning and his wife no longer felt comfortable spending their nights enjoying the evening sky from their newly-built villas, knowing that some 100 kilometers away, entire villages had been swept away, leaving thousands of people homeless.
Canning decided to seek help from his friends in Ireland, starting what the Star Apple Leyte Fund on Nov. 17, 2013 on Facebook.
““I am from Ireland, living in Maasin, Southern Leyte. I set up this fund to help the people from the northern Leyte rebuild their lives. Star Apple Leyte Fund was created this week by me. It is for my friends in Ireland. US people are welcome to donate. If you have a problem with it not being a registered charity, just send your money to the Red Cross, etc. Every penny we take in will be accounted for and every penny will be spent on the displaced people. We have no administrative expenses,” Canning wrote.
By Dec. 19, 2013, Canning and his crew – including his brother Gary and cousin Declan—were already moving on to their second emergency housing project in Tolosa, Leyte, after completing 31 houses in Barangay Tugas in Tabango, Leyte, some four hours drive from his hotel in Maasin City.
Canning said he chose Tabango first because he had a friend there who was married to a Filipina from the area.
“It was total wipeout of the indigent houses. We built 31 12’x10’ houses with about 42 families. The lots are owned by a farmer who donated the trees,” he said.
Choosing Tolosa also gave him no problem in terms of land ownership.
“We needed a place to build without problems. They are not squatters. The indigents have permission to build on the land,” Pascal said.
Every built house gets a house number, and costs about 200 to 300 euros to build. Donors see what their donations are buying on Canning’s Facebook page.
“I am building 30 native homes. This process starts off with the chainsaw operators cutting the fallen coconut trees into 4×4, 4×2, 3×2 and 2×2 timber. My carpenters then build a wooden framed building, 12’ x 10’ and cover in corrugated galvanized steel. The house owner then covers the floor joists with split bamboo.
The outer walls are also covered in bamboo or whatever local materials are available from the land. They do not own the land, mind you,” Canning said.
“On completion, the new home owner then gets P500 (about €8) from our funds to finish off the inside. The cost is about €200 for each house. It would be cheaper if we were not so far from our own homes in Southern Leyte. The last part of the journey can only be undertaken by 4×4 vehicles,” Pascal wrote on his Facebook page.
“Because of my experience in building and the fact that I worked with Filipino carpenters and chainsaw operators before, I could not do nothing. I also speak some of the local language and most importantly understand the people and their culture,” he said.
“After the 30 houses? As long as I have funds I aim to build these basic houses until I die. In my opinion every family deserves a basic 12’ x 10’ place to call home,” he said.
But Canning and his team have already gone beyond 30 houses.
In Tolosa, where coastal areas went underwater due to the storm surge, Canning and his crew have allocated house numbers up to 42 already.
“There are many more homeless who will be in the next batch as long as funds keep coming in,” he said.
Aside from Canning’s friends and family back in the UK helping him, he also tied up with “Taga Maasin Ka Kung (TMKK)…,” an online group mainly composed of overseas Filipino workers from Maasin City which has been doing charity work for three years.
“The funding is by donations from my friends, and friends of friends,” Canning said.
As Star Apple Fund for Leyte and TMKK for Leyte are not yet registered charities, Canning began working on a foundation.
“The SEC (Security Exchange Commission) says I need to have P1 million (about €16,900) in a bank account to start a foundation. I don’t have one million, and even if I did, they expect to leave it there for about 10 days, whilst they check that it is there. So what about the people who need shelter? Housing them is my priority,” Canning said.
“The motto of Star Apple Leyte Fund will now change from ‘I Cannot Do Nothing’ to ‘We Cannot do Nothing’. The ‘We’ is our donors and volunteers,” he said.

By Ronald O. Reyes

TACLOBAN CITY- Hats off to the Filipino soldiers.
Thus said Julian Herrera, senior protection officer of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), who commended the government soldiers for their help during the calamity relief efforts, particularly in the retrieval of dead bodies.
Herrera said that the soldiers gave their best during the entire operations unmindful that they are even risking their own security and health in carrying their tasks.
“I’m not here to make pronouncements but I think they are working very hard. Filipinos should be proud of them. Under these incredible circumstances, they are stepping up and doing their tasks,” Herrera said in an interview.
He added that with the commendable act of the soldiers during the calamity, this would “help strengthen their image with the population.”
“That the armed forces are capable of doing things other than just being soldiers,” the UNHCR official said.
About 2,500 soldiers belonging to the different battalions of the 8th Infantry Division based in Catbalogan City, Samar were deployed in areas affected by supertyphoon Yolanda, particularly in Tacloban City, not only to help in the clearing and cleaning of debris but in the retrieval of dead bodies under the rubble.
Herrera said that retrieving dead bodies from the rubble of debris is not an easy task but the soldiers did the task with utmost care and respect to the recovered cadavers.
“The issue on the recovering the remains of a member of a family is something that is you know, close to every family; dear to every family. Think about it,” Herrera said, referring how important the recovery of dead persons to their surviving relatives.
Supertyphoon Yolanda had resulted to the deaths of 5,803 across Eastern Visayas with Tacloban having the highest number of death toll at 2,540 as of January 14.
This positive observation of the UNHCR official obviously warm the hearts of Brigadier General Rolando Malinao, assistant division of the 8th ID and general officer-in-charge of the Task Force Yolanda.
“It’s uplifting. It’s very inspiring and with that comment, we will do more our as mandated,” Malinao said.
Private First Class Marlon Arguilles said that he was glad that their effort is being recognized though he was quick to say that it was part of their duty.
“When we retrieve a corpse, we do it with utmost care. We just thought that this dead body could just be a relative of ours who died while trying to escape from the onslaught of Yolanda,” Arguilles said.
Malinao added that aside from helping in the retrieval of the dead persons and in the clearing operations, the soldiers also help in securing the safety of all those international and local organizations that descended to help the typhoon victims. (JOEY A. GABIETA)

Gabriela Women’s Party Representative Luzviminda Ilagan urged colleagues in the House of Representatives to immediately tackle in its agenda House Resolution 453 amid increased reports of trafficking and cybersex operations in the country, especially in areas hardest hit by Typhoon Yolanda including Leyte and Cebu.
HR 453 principally authored by Gabriela Women’s Party Reps. Ilagan and Emmi De Jesus directs the Committees on the Welfare of Children and Women and Gender Equality to conduct an inquiry on the virtual “Sweetie” and the glaring inability of the Philippine government to stop pedophilia and child pornography.
“Despite the enactment of laws including the Anti-Child Pornography law and the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act, the Philippines continues to fail in addressing gender violence. These laws are obviously not enough as they are practically negated by government policies that worsen unemployment and women and families’ lack of access to basic social services. Women and their families are practically left with no choice. Sa kabila ng mga naipasang batas, mahihirapan talaga tayong mapigilan ang cybersex at cyberprostitution hangga’t papalala ang kahirapan at ang kawalan ng kabuhayan,”Ilagan said.
In recent months, raids on suspected cyber prostitution dens have been conducted in both Cebu and Angeles cities in Pampanga. The said cybersex and prostitution operations reportedly victimized minors and young girls from poor communities.
“The urgency with which this issue must be addressed cannot be emphasized enough as a growing number of young women and girls become increasingly vulnerable to gender violence. The absence of livelihood opportunities, the government’s criminal neglect of typhoon and disaster victims evident in the slow and inefficient response to the relief and rehabilitation needs of disaster survivors make women and girls easy prey for traffickers, cybersex operators and pimps,” said Ilagan who also cited reports of human trafficking among Typhoon Yolanda victims in Basey and Marabut in Samar province.
Reports estimate some 60,000 to 100,000 Filipino children have fallen victims to sex predators and pedophiles.
The Gabriela solons said they are hoping that both the Committees on the Welfare of Children and Women and Gender Equality will tackle HR 453 when Congress resumes session next week.(R)