From Paco to Laguna: Families now standing tall in their new homes

By: Faizza Farinna T. Tanggol

Families have been given a new lease on life thanks to ABS-CBN Foundation’s Kapit Bisig para sa Ilog Pasig (KBPIP). To date, a total of 116 families living near Estero de Paco have been transferred to “Bayanijuan sa Calauan,” KBPIP’s official resettlement site in Laguna.

The series of relocation from Brgy. 671 and 683 in Paco, Manila began last June 9, 2009. It has since become a weekly operation with varying number of families transferred per batch. KBPIP plans to relocate all the families living along the three-kilometer stretch of Estero de Paco to Calauan by December 2009.

Around a thousand families dwell either on the banks or under the bridge along Estero de Paco, a tributary of Pasig River. These households directly contribute to the pollution load to Pasig River. As well, the families are in danger of a myriad of illnesses that can be gleaned from the esteros.

“Ganito po ang buhay namin dito sa ilalim ng tulay, lalo na ‘pag tag-ulan, napakahirap po talaga dito,” said Renato Seroy, a resident of Brgy. 683 Paco, Manila, “Kapag high tide naman yung tubig, aabot ang baha dito sa sahig. Kaya lang nag-tiis po kami gawa ng wala naman talagang matitirhan. Nabubuhay din kami kahit papano.” [This is our way of life. Especially when it rains, it's really very difficult. When it’s high tide, the water flows inside our house. But we have to bear the difficulty since we don't have anywhere else to go. Somehow, we survive.]

The Seroy family belongs to the first wave of ten families that voluntarily opted to have a new life in Calauan last June 9. Additional twenty families were relocated on June 18 while thirty families were resettled on June 26.

“Napakaaganda pala at masarap ang pakiramdam na meron kang ganitong bahay na daratnan,” said the wife of Renato, Benilda Seroy, “Mapapasaamin na ‘tong lugar na 'to balang araw. At sana mabago na rin ang takbo ng buhay naming mag-asawa.” [It feels good to have a house like this to go home to. One day, we will own this. Hopefully, our lives will be changed.]

“Nagkaroon kami ng ganitong bahay,” Renato states with awe, “Noong araw sa pangarap lamang, ngayon ay natupad na dahil sa Kapit Bisig [para sa Ilog Pasig], maraming-maraming salamat po.” [We now have our own house, one that we have only dreamed of before but is now a reality thanks to Kapit Bisig. Thank you so much.]

Plans are also underway to put up facilities such as day care, clinic, and library for the Bayanijuan sa Calauan site.

The families that have arrived in Calauan have already started transforming their dwellings into a home they can call their own. They have put up small gardens in front of their homes and have started planting corn and vegetables in their backyard. Families have also begun putting up curtain partitions in their new homes. However, the relocatees are still in need of a number of basic things for their day to day lives, such as:
• Something the relocatees can sleep on - mattresses, banigs, blankets, bedsheets even big empty boxes or tarpaulin
• Bamboo/scrap wood/coco lumber, etc. for making bed frames/papag, tables/partitions
• Garden tools, seeds
• Kitchen utensils
• Guitars, drums, any musical instrument
• Pails, basins, sacks
• Mosquito nets
• Old books, magazines, reading materials
• Toys, sports equipments
• First aid kits, medicines
• Flashlights/emergency lights
• Fire extinguisher
• Towels, slippers, hairbrushes, mirror, cabinets, shelves

All donations can be sent to the ABS-CBN Foundation at Lopez Drive, Mother Ignacia Street. You can reach Kapit Bisig para sa Ilog Pasig at Bayan hotlines 410-2753 to 55 or e-mail girlie_aragon@abs-cbn.com (project manager of Kapit Bisig para sa Ilog Pasig), micsychan@gmail.com (resource mobilization manager) or larah_ortega@abs-cbn.com (volunteer services manager).

KBPIP wishes to thank the following for their full support to the relocation operations: Armed Forces of the Philippines GHQ-J7/J3 (Camp Aguinaldo), Philippine Army CMOBn (Fort Bonifacio), National Housing Authority, The City of Manila’s Department of Public Services and Urban Settlements Office, Metro Manila Development Authority, Brgy, 671 Chair Norma Desiderio, Brgy. 683 Chair Rogie Nato, Unilever, and Nestlé.