ABS- CBN Foundation launches "Bayan ni Juan sa Calauan"
abs-cbnNEWS.com | 05/27/2009 1:03 PM
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Informal settlers living along the Pasig River can now hope for a better life, thanks to “Bayanijuan sa Calauan,” the 107-hectare resettlement project launched by the ABS-CBN Foundation Inc. (AFI) last Monday (May 11) in support of the Kapit Bisig Para Sa Ilog Pasig (KBPIP) movement.
“KBPIP” is a partnership between the Department of Environment and Natural Resources through the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission (PRRC) to clean the Pasig River in seven years. An important phase in the rehabilitation process is to relocate the 4,000 families currently living along the river, as these households contribute to 60% domestic wastes in the Pasig River based on a PRRC study.
Different sectors are working together to make “Bayanijuan sa Calauan” a ready and sustainable home for the relocatees from Pasig River, including the National Housing Authority, which owns the Calauan site.
“We have given the ABS-CBN Foundation the authority to manage the Calauan housing project,” explained Rico Laxa, General Manager of NHA, “There are 800 houses here ready for the families, we just have to fix it a bit. I’m sure the site will definitely improve with the help of ABS-CBN Foundation and their partners.”
To help build additional houses are Globe Asiatique and Habitat for Humanity Philippines. Manila Water, meanwhile, will lend a hand in the water and sanitation system for Bayanijuan sa Calauan. “Here in the Calauan community, we have to take care of the environment, which means, no sewage should go to the river here. Water should already be treated before going to the river,” explained Mark Mulingbayan, operations manager of Manila Water.
Calauan Mayor George Berris has also given his full commitment in welcoming their new kababayans."For the past six years, the thrust of Calauan has always been health services and education. There are already plans to open an elementary school, we already have a high school near here, and just last week, Polytechnic University of the Philippines confirmed that they are putting up a campus here in Calauan. So we will have a complete education for the community,” he said.
“Bayanijuan sa Calauan is about showing how the Filipino spirit can be, how we can all work together,” said ABS-CBN Foundation managing director Gina Lopez. “This is an ideal place, where we can bring the informal settlers from Pasig River to transform and improve their lives through Bayanijuan.”
ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation and ABS-CBN Foundation launched Bayanijuan last year with the goal of rebuilding communities from the ground up by utilizing the successful socio-civic programs under its belt. Bayanijuan synergizes Bayan Microfinance and all the programs of ABS-CBN Foundation--Bantay Bata 163, Bantay Kalikasan, E-Media, and Sagip Kapamilya--into one.
“Bayanijuan sa Calauan” will provide shelter, livelihood, child welfare, environmental initiatives, microfinance and disaster-risk reduction programs to the relocated families.
Present in the inauguration of the site were ABS-CBN president and COO Charo Santos-Concio, Channel 2 head Cory Vidanes, Corporate Communications head Bong Osorio, Globe Asiatique president and CEO Delfin Lee, Habitat for Humanity Philippines president and CEO Bert Jugo, Friends of Habitat Co-Chair Margie Moran-Floriendo, and artists Nikki Gil, Laarni Lozada, and Bugoy Drilon, who all took part in the community work which followed the program.
“ABS-CBN has always supported all of ABS-CBN Foundation’s projects. We give a different kind of effort for this program because it is ingrained in the Filipino spirit of pakikipagtulungan [working together] and having a healthy community,” said Santos-Concio.
“What she [Lopez] plans for Pasig River is a very worthwhile mission. I think we owe it to the next generation,” Lee added. Jugo, meanwhile, said that their assistance won’t stop in building simple, decent, durable houses. “Making a house is simple; What’s difficult is making sure that the people here become a real community. That’s why we have a partner that will help in values formation and access to livelihood, the Couples for Christ Foundation for Family and Life,” he said.
With strong backing from the partners of ABS-CBN Foundation through “Bayanijuan sa Calauan” and “Kapit Bisig Para sa Ilog Pasig,” the dream of a clean Pasig River will surely become a reality in seven years. #
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