TOLOSA, Leyte – The American Chamber Foundation of the Philippines, Inc.(AmCham) donated 30 fishing boats made of fiber glass to fishermen coming from different coastal towns in Leyte. The donation of the 18 footer fishing boats was held last May 22 in Barangay Dona Brigida, this town, and led by AmCham’s president Rhick Jennings and its executive director Ebb Hinchcliffe. Also present were rehabilitation czar Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, Leyte Vice Governor Carlo Loreto and Mayors Remedios “Matin” Petilla of Palo; Pelagio Tecson of Tanauan and Erwin Ocana of this town. The beneficiaries of the fishing boats donated by the American business chamber came from the different coastal villages of the three towns which were among the hardest areas in Leyte during the onslaught of Yolanda last November 8, 2013. Hinchcliffe, in his message, said that the fishing boats donated by them were just part of their “overall effort” to help rebuild Leyte. “It may be in another set of boats for another set of recipients but surely more help will still come from us,” Hincliffe said. The boats, which were first tested in Bacoor, Cavite before they were brought here, were donated by different companies and individuals who are affiliated with AmCham. The donations were 18-footer fiberglass boats painted in red, white and blue. These include Arankada, Sc Johnson & Son, Ambassador Charles Salmon, Fair Isaac (ASPAC) Ltc., FICO, US Chamber Foundation, Time Depot, Harte-Hanks Philippines, New World Makati Hotel, Nu-Skin Enterprises, Inc., American Camber Foundation, Quezon Power Philippines, Inc., Rapha Health Institute, Mary Kay Philippines, Inc., Atty. Peter Yap, Manpower Group, FactSet, UHS Essential Health Philippines, Inc., Mr. Rhick Jennings, Del Monte Philippines and Del Monte Foundation. The AmCham founded on December 06, 1985 which acts as the socio civic arm of member companies of American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines. (AHLETTE C. REYES)
With the opening of classes Parents uncertain on future of their children due to poor conditions
TACLOBAN CITY-Rose Ann Fevidal, 12, is one of the 26 million students who joined the opening of new school year on June 2. Yet her mother, Thelma, a widow and victim of typhoon Yolanda in Tacloban, said that with the new school opening comes also another round of anxiety and sadness for her. “I know, I am supposed to be happy for my child. But I just can’t hide the fact that I’ll be having a big problem in supporting her school needs,” the elder Fevidal, said. She is earning about P50 a day from the small store she puts up in her makeshift house which stands right in the waters of the coastal district of Anibong. “Sometimes when I am running out of capital, I’ll close the store and wash clothes for others to earn money which I use to open the store again,” said the 51-year old mother, adding that she is paid P350 for the laundry job which she also use to buy food and charcoal to fuel her daily cooking. “Now, I am more worried for my daughter. I still don’t have money for her shoes, bag, uniform and for daily allowance to buy little snack at school.” The same also with Ruby Figueroa, 34, single parent and jobless after the company she was working was closed after Yolanda. “My daughter is excited for the school opening, but I still have to find a permanent work to support her,” said Ruby, one of the thousands of residents in the coastal district of San Jose who still lives in “tent cities” and makeshift shelters. Ruby added she still have to find her luck in landing “any job” in the storm-hit Tacloban. Another parent Louel Lagunzad, 50, who lives in a tent shelter in Baloc 1, San Jose, said that with the school opening comes also another problem of how to support his 10 children. “I’m getting crazy on this. I badly need help. I have no work, no house, no money and not even food for my children because the giving of food relief for us typhoon victims already stopped,” said Lagunzad. At one point in the interview, Lagunzad disclosed he is always carrying a bottle of water with him to make him feel his stomach is “full” when he feels hungry. “We go one-day, one- eat here” he said, adding he is uncertain if his children can go back to school. Lagunzad called on the government to give them immediate livelihood assistance to help them support their family and the schooling of their children. (RONALD O. REYES)
Air Asia Foundation donates P97 million for Yolanda victims who lost their homes
TACLOBAN CITY – The Air Asia Foundation donated more than $2 million (P97 million) for the rehabilitation effort of Yolanda-hit areas. The Air Asia Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Air Asia, made a relief campaign for Yolanda victims dubbed as “To Philippines with Love (#toPHwithlove) which ran for six weeks. According to Tony Fernandes, group corporate executive officer of Air Asia, the money raised by their foundation was donated to the Philippine Red Cross and Habitat for Humanity. The two aid groups would construct permanent houses to families who totally lose their homes during the onslaught of Yolanda on November 8, 2013. Fernandes in a press conference at the Tacloban City DZR airport said, the campaign raised a total of $2.17 million or P97 million. Fernandes was joined in the press conference by its partners Philippine Red Cross chairman and CEO Richard J. Gordon, PRC Secretary General Gwendolyn Pang and a representatives of the Habitat for Humanity. Also present were rehabilitation czar Panfilo “Ping” Lacson and Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez. Air Asia channeled to PRC P46million (USD$1.04million) for the construction of 325 permanent housing in Panay, one of the Yolanda-hit provinces. The donation brings closer to the 100,000 targeted core shelter units of the Philippine Red Cross for the Yolanda disaster-hit areas. For Tacloban City, with the matching and partner funds managed by Air Asia Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, will be receiving P37.4million ($850,000) for the 187 permanent housing units in the northern village of the city. The second phase of relief efforts of the airline company were collected on board flights, on ground at the airports, as well as through the online microsite. Air Asia was the first to respond and operate humanitarian flights carrying close to 5,000 relief workers and survivors as well as 400 tonnes of aid items to Tacloban, Cebu and Kalibo, Aklan. This is in addition to the 250,000 free seats made available across Air Asia’s Philippine network for people to travel in search of missing family members. Air Asia is the leading and largest low-cost carrier in Asia within the 12 years of operation. It has grown by leaps and bounds from two fleets to over 140 over a decade. Air Asia Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the Asia Group of Companies. Air Asia flies six times a week for Tacloban-Manila route with 90 percent load capacity. (VICKY C. ARNAIZ)
BDO Foundation to provide housing units to physically disabled persons in Leyte hit by Yolanda
TACLOBAN CITY – Persons with disabilities who were victims of supertyphoon Yolanda will be beneficiaries of a housing resettlement community in Sta. Fe, Leyte. BDO Foundation and Foundation for These-Abled Persons Inc. (FTI) together with the provincial government of Leyte through Governor Leopoldo Dominico Petilla broke ground last May 19 of the 1.3 hectare housing resettlement site in Sta. Fe town. The housing resettlement site, which is one of the rehabilitation projects of BDO Foundation under its Disaster Response Program for typhoon Yolanda-ravaged Eastern Visayas, will have 100 shelter units complete with kitchenette and toilet facilities. Each duplex is 46 square meters or 23 square meters per home and all concrete (including the roof) to make it more disaster resilient. The total project cost, including the cost of land that FTI purchased through a long-term loan with Hong Kong Trust, is P28 million. About P16 million has been allocated by the BDO Foundation to fund part of the land and site development, the construction of 100 shelter units and workshop, the training of the workers, the tools, and equipment for building. The shelter units and land development are to be jointly funded by BDO Unibank and donations from clients. It will house a workshop/multipurpose hall of about 300 square meters funded by BDO employees’ donation where the community members will be trained on new construction technology of producing pre-fabricated walls for housing which can be their source of livelihood. The model community is envisioned to create sustainable enterprises beyond the disaster recovery phase for persons with disability to be productive and become part of the economic process. Gov. Petilla, in his message, lauded and thanked BDO Foundation and FTI for giving particular attention to physically disabled individuals who have been rendered homeless during the massive typhoon that struck Leyte and other parts of Eastern Visayas last November 8, 2013. “We are indeed thankful to the BDO Foundation and the Foundation for TheseAbled Persons, Inc. for coming up with this project to especially benefits our physically handicapped. In these days when all we think about is how we can get all things back to normal, this endeavor giving special attention for our unique individuals is very much laudable,” Petilla said. In recent months, BDO Foundation also mounted relief efforts for affected families of typhoon Yolanda in various parts of the region. (AHLETTE C. REYES)
Mormon Church helps rebuild 3,000 houses destroyed by Yolanda
TACLOBAN CITY-At least 3,210 houses destroyed during the onslaught of supertyphoon Yolanda were completely built by the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, popularly known as the Mormon. The houses were repaired by about 620 Church members who were trained in basic carpentry who were later given certification by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). The newly-trained carpenters have their graduation on May 29 with top officials of the Church witnessing the occasion held at the Mormons Chapel at Fatima area, this city. “This is quite different, pioneering for us. We haven’t done this kind of project before. We learned a lot. And in fact as we came up with other organizations including Catholic charities, they are asking us to teach what we learn,” Elder Craig Christensen, a member of the Presidency of Seventy of the Church, said. He was referring to the Catholic Relief Services(CRS) which is conducting a relief mission in Yolanda-hit areas which hired about 200 Mormons members who were trained the basic carpentry program. During the graduation rites, Elder Christensen was joined by Elder Ian Ardern, current Church leader in the Philippines, among other officials of the Church. According to Elder Christensen, funds used for their relief for the victims are coming from donations of their local members throughout the world. On its shelter program for storm victims, the Church provided the construction materials and tools while labor was provided by the beneficiaries. Following the Church’s principle of self-reliance, shelter recipients were required to construct their houses as well us building another four shelters for other victims. This way, the house recipient not only learned a skill but also livelihood as carpenters are in demand to rehabilitate houses and buildings in the affected communities. Ian Carel, 23, a shelter recipient in Tacloban said he is grateful for the help he received from the Mormon Church. “They gave our family a new house after ours was destroyed by Yolanda. What I can only say is I am happy and thankful,” Carel said. Carel, however, hoped that families who are still in the tents and temporary shelters will have their own house the soonest time especially after hearing on the fire incident on May 28 which killed a family of seven members in the “Tent City” located in Barangay 88, Costa Brava, San Jose district. Beth Moore, an American volunteer and a Mormon who has been helping storm victims in carpentry works for five months already in the city, said she was impressed by how the storm victims are trying to recover from the disaster. “It’s great. They are wonderful and very positive,” Moore said on how was it to be volunteering here for the victims, adding she is hopeful that all the carpentry graduates will get employment and build more buildings. Ricardo Aban, local leader of the Mormon Church in the city, also expressed thanks to the help they received from the Church all over the world particularly on livelihood, shelter, and food and health assistance, among others. (RONALD O.REYES)
2 rebels killed in Samar encounter
ORMOC CITY- An encounter between government soldiers and members of the New People’s Army in Matuguinao, Samar resulted to the death of two rebels and recovery of several firearms. Lt. Glen Jun Calambuhay, commanding officer of the 43rd Infantry Battalion, based in San Jorge town, also in Samar, said that the May 25 encounter between his soldiers and the undetermined number of rebels took place in Barangay Mahayag, a remote village of Matuguinao. Matuguinao is still considered one of the towns in Samar where there are still presence of NPA members. According to Calambuhay, the encounter resulted to the death of two rebel members and recovery of one 5.56 Armalite rifle, one 5.56 Baby Armalite rifle and one (1) 40mm M203 grenade launcher were seized from the rebel group. The soldiers were in Mahayag at around 5:30 p.m. conducting their security operation when they were fire upon by the rebels who were also in the area. This resulted to a fire fight that lasted for more than 20 that caused the death of two rebels with no member of the government troops killed or injured, Calambuhay said. Major General Jet Velarmino, commanding general of the 8th Infantry Division based in Catbalogan City, lauded his troops’ accomplishment. “I take pride as your commander of your dedication to service which resulted to the accomplishment of your given mission,” he said. Velarmino expressed his sympathy to the bereaved families and relatives of the killed NPA rebels. “It is very tragic that they have taken arms against the Filipino nation when only through peace can development and social justice be attained,” he said. The NPA, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, have been waging war with the government for the past 45 years now. The government has vowed to quell the insurgency problem citing it as one the reasons why development in the countryside remain sluggish. (ELVIE ROMAN ROA)