Ronald Mayol and Elizabeth Martunillas and their three-year-old child pose with Tesda director general Joel Villanueva (left) and Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III during the turnover of homes built by Tesda’s carpentry and masonry scholars.
(CDN Photo/Tonee Despojo)
A year after they lost their home to supertyphoon Yolanda, a couple from San Remigio town in northern Cebu finally got a new roof over their head.
The house of Ronald Mayol and Elizabeth Martunillas in barangay Maño was among those destroyed by the Category 5 storm, the strongest tropical cyclone ever recorded.
“Our house was a mess. Nobody could live there anymore,” the 46-year old Martunillas said in Cebuano.
The 45-year old Mayol, a tricycle driver, said they have no money to have their house repaired.
Martunilla, who plants corn and raises native chicken, said her income is just enough to get by.
Ownership
In the months that followed, the family sought refuge in a house owned by Mayol’s mother.
Mayol and Martunillas are not legally married. They have two children, ages 15 and 3.
“We are grateful that my mother-in-law let us live in her house, but it’s really different if we have a house we can call our own,” Martunillas said.
The couple’s wish was finally fulfilled the day before the Yolanda anniversary after they were handed a big silver key, symbolizing ownership of a house built by carpentry and masonry scholars of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda).
Three units measuring 20 square meters each were built by the Tesda scholars as part of their livelihood skills training.
Deserving
According to Rainero Jayme of Tesda-7, each unit costs P100,000.
The provincial government and the municipal government of storm-hit towns helped fund the construction.
The carpentry and masonry scholars were tasked to build three houses in each of the Yolanda-affected towns or city in northern Cebu.
The couple was only among three beneficiaries from San Remigio whom the municipal government deemed “deserving” of the shelters.
“Nalipay gyud kaayo mi ani. Sa kadaghan sa nabiktima sa Yolanda, naapil gyud mi ani (We were happy that among the many victims of Yolanda we were included),” Martunillas said.
The turnover ceremony was held at the Don Celestino Martinez Complex in Bogo City on Friday.
A similar ceremony was held in Medellin on the same day, where three houses were also awarded to beneficiaries.
More than 1,500 scholars from Bogo City, Borbon, Sogod, San Remigio, and Daanbantayan also received their certificates of training after completing the Skills Training and Livelihood Assistance (STLA) program.
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