Partners eye social services for ‘Yolanda’ village

Ms. Marissa Fernan, SM Prime Holdings Inc. Vice President; Ms. Carmen Linda Atayde, SMFI, executive director for education; Fr. Ernesto Javier, Roberto “Bobby” Aboitiz, Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc., president and Dominica Chua, RAFI, chief operating officer (from L-R) signing the memorandome of agreement (MOA) for the Yolanda housing project for Bogo City victims.(CDN PHOTO/CHRISTIAN MANINGO)

Fishermen and rural residents displaced by supertyphoon Yolanda in Bogo City in north Cebu can look forward to moving into 200 new housing units before the year ends.

But it will take more to rebuild their lives and establish a new community in the project site to be called SM Cares Village.

The SM Foundation Inc. yesterday signed a partnership agreement with the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI) to handle a program of values formation and social services for beneficiaries of the housing project in barangay Polambato.

“We want the beneficiaries not just to have their own homes but to have full and complete recovery from the trauma that they went through,” said Marissa Fernan, SM Prime Holdings Inc. (SPMHI) vice president.

“We want them to be whole again and help them through the process towards full recovery.”
SM targets to turn over the village of concrete row houses to beneficiaries on Nov. 9 or a day after the anniversary of the typhoon’s onslaught.

RAFI will set criteria in selecting beneficiaries and develop the enrollment program.

“It’s a challenge for all of us. It’s not just about building houses but it is also forming a community,” said Roberto Aboitiz, RAFI president.

Skills training and plans to build a school, community center and chapel nearby were also discussed.

Social preparation is important, said Aboitiz, because the people will be moving into an unfamiliar environment and a new way of living. Aboitiz suggested building a model home for prospective beneficiaries to get familiar with new features like flush toilets and solid walls.

The houses measure 20 square meters each and have a three meter space outside for cooking and other household activities.

Concrete roads and water pipes are being installed. Plans were also discussed to establish a community center or chapel nearby.

The foundation will retain ownership of the houses but beneficiaries who use them can stay with immediate members of the family.

Project manager Engr. John Edward Reyes, the project manager, the houses which use walls of fiberboard reinforced with concrete were also earthquake and typhoon- resilient.

The memorandum of agreement settisigning was held at the Radisson Blu Hotel.