Fri | 05.14.2021 | 1:00 PM

Forty-five-year-old Nemesio Ocampo and his family, who live within the four-kilometer danger zone in Sitio Siaten, Balete, will soon have a safe home at the PAGCOR Village.

Ocampo (right) and Balete’s San Sebastian Barangay Captain Gerardo Villanueva are on their way to Sitio Siaten using a wooden banca.

They look forward to the construction of the PAGCOR Village, which will soon provide a safe place to many families from the Sitio.

Forty-three-year-old Luisa Silva and her family, who have been living in tents for more than a year now in Balete’s Barangay Makina, will soon have a home they can call their own at the soon-to-rise PAGCOR Village in the municipality.

They are among the families from Barangay Calawit in Taal Island who were left homeless when Taal Volcano erupted last year.

From left: PAGCOR's Assistant Vice President for Community Relations and Services Ramon Stephen Villaflor, Batangas 3rd District Representative Theresa Collantes and Balete Mayor Wilson Maralit bury the time capsule during the groundbreaking of the soon-to-rise PAGCOR Village in Barangay Solis.

PAGCOR's Assistant Vice President for Community Relations and Services Ramon Stephen Villaflor (2nd from left) turns over the P30 million check to Balete Mayor Wilson Maralit (2nd from right) for the PAGCOR Village project in Barangay Solis.

Also in photo are (from left) Batangas 3rd District Representative Theresa Collantes and Balete Vice Mayor Alvin Payo.

PAGCOR's Assistant Vice President for Community Relations and Services Ramon Stephen Villaflor (4th from left) turns over the agency's P50 million grant to Cabuyao City officials headed by Mayor Rommel Gecolea (5th from left) during the groundbreaking of PAGCOR's evacuation center project in the city on May 13, 2021.

Joining them are Laguna 2nd District Representative Ruth Hernandez (4th from right), Cabuyao City Vice Mayor Leif Laiglon Opina (3rd from right), some PAGCOR officers, and other city officials.

The site where PAGCOR's Multi-Purpose Evacuation Center in Cabuyao City’s Barangay Banay-Banay will be built.

Two towns surrounding the Taal volcano received much-needed funding for housing and evacuation center projects from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR).

The towns of Balete in Batangas and Cabuyao in Laguna — that were not spared during Taal Volcano’s phreatic eruption in 2020 — can now strengthen their disaster risk reduction and management measures through the P80 million grants, which they received on May 13, 2021.

PAGCOR formally turned over the P30 million check to Balete, Batangas local government unit (LGU) in a groundbreaking ceremony to kickstart the PAGCOR Village project, which will soon rise in Barangay Solis in the said municipality.

Similar to other PAGCOR Villages, the main features of the P30 million housing project include 100 units of 30-square-meter houses and an arc or signage located at the entrance of the project site.

A brainchild project of PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Andrea Domingo, these villages are designed to provide permanent shelters to less privileged families who were displaced by Taal Volcano’s eruption in January 2020. Most of these families remain homeless until now.

According to Balete Mayor Wilson Maralit, the PAGCOR Village will augment the town’s housing project that aims to provide permanent relocation sites for families living in Taal Volcano’s danger zone. Some of them include residents from Sitio Siaten in Barangay Sebastian, an area located at the four-kilometer radius danger zone, and those who are still living in tents in Barangay Makina for more than a year now as they can no longer go back to their homes in Barangay Calawit in Taal Island.

“This PAGCOR Village will soon provide a safer home to our displaced families,” Maralit said. “We are very thankful to the agency as we alone cannot fast-track the construction of housing units without the support from partner-agencies such as PAGCOR.

The beneficiary LGUs’ counterpart is to provide the land where the housing project will be constructed and to ensure that the site has access to roads, water and electricity.

Forty-five-year-old Nemesio Ocampo, who was born and grew up in the now considered permanent danger zone, heaved a sigh of relief when his family was included in the priority list of PAGCOR Village recipients in their locality.

“Isa na po siguro ako sa pinaka-masaya dahil napabilang kami sa pabahay. Dama po kasi namin ang pangamba sa Sitio at hirap ng pagiging bakwit noong kailangan naming lumikas,” said Ocampo who now embraced the fact that Sitio Siaten can no longer be a safe place for his family since Taal volcano erupted last year.

Despite being a child development worker, Ocampo ventures into fishing and hog-raising to augment his income and provide for his family.

Meanwhile, in Cabuyao City, Mayor Rommel Gecolea, expressed his gratitude to PAGCOR after their city received P50 million grant for the construction of a Multi-Purpose Evacuation Center (MPEC) which will soon rise in Barangay Banay-Banay — a strategic location since the city’s Command Center and sports complex are also located there.

The check amounting to P25 million, which represents the first tranche of funding, was officially received by city officials during the groundbreaking event.

“Resiliency is a key factor in good governance. This project boosts the city’s capabilities in managing disasters such as flood and Taal’s eruptions,” Gecolea said.

He added that PAGCOR’s MPEC project reflects the Filipinos’ bayanihan spirit by providing comfortable shelters to evacuees in times of calamities. When not being used as an evacuation site, the MPEC building will serve as the city’s Bayanihan Office where locals can access basic services.

Apart from Cabuyao, Laguna, the agency has also released the first tranche of funding for its MPEC projects in San Pablo City, Laguna; Lobo, Batangas; Silago, Southern Leyte; Orani and Samal in Bataan; La Paz, Tarlac; Dingalan, Aurora; Catarman, Samar; Barangays Camflora, Mangero and Poblacion in San Andres, Quezon; Tapaz, Capiz; Cajidiocan, Romblon; Dinas, Zamboanga del Sur; Tagudin, Ilocos Sur; Tadian, Mountain Province; Legazpi City and Ligao in Albay; Ocampo, Tigaon, San Jose and Sagnay in Camarines Sur; and San Fernando and Floridablanca in Pampanga.

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