Wed| 01.12.2022 | 8:00 AM

The project site of the soon-to-rise two-storey PAGCOR-funded evacuation center in Barangay Bangao, Buguias, Benguet.

PAGCOR’s Vice President (VP) for Corporate Social Responsibility Group Ramon Stephen Villaflor (3rd from left) and Buguias Mayor Ruben Tinda-an (4th from left) are joined by (from left) PAGCOR’s Community Relations and Services Department (CRSD) Senior Manager Joaquin Abejar Jr., CRSD Acting Assistant VP Eric Balcos, Benguet’s Provincial Governor’s Office Representative Leonardo Calabias, and Bangao Barangay Captain Linda Tagubasi during the groundbreaking ceremony of the two-storey PAGCOR-Funded Multi-Purpose Evacuation Center in Barangay Bangao, Buguias, Benguet on January 6, 2022.

PAGCOR’s Vice President (VP) for Corporate Social Responsibility Group Ramon Stephen Villaflor (3rd from left) turns over the P25 million cheque – or first tranche of the P50 million MPEC funding – to Mankayan Mayor Atty. Frenzel Ayong (4th from left) during the groundbreaking of the two-storey PAGCOR-funded MPEC in Mankayan, Benguet on January 6, 2022. Also in photo are (from left) PAGCOR’s Community Relations and Services Department (CRSD) Senior Manager Joaquin Abejar Jr., CRSD Acting Assistant VP Eric Balcos, Tabio Barangay Captain Eugene Lasquite, and Benguet’s Provincial Governor’s Office Representative Leonardo Calabias.

The aerial view of the soon-to-rise two-storey PAGCOR-funded MPEC in Sitio Bayoyo, Barangay Tabio, Mankayan, Benguet.

PAGCOR’s Vice President for Corporate Social Responsibility Group Ramon Stephen Villaflor (3rd from left) and Baguio City Vice Mayor Faustino Olowan (2nd from right) lead the groundbreaking of the Barangay Hall Multi-Purpose Complex in Barangay Engineer’s Hill, Baguio City, which PAGCOR is financially assisting to rehabilitate.

PAGCOR’s Vice President (VP) for Corporate Social Responsibility Group Ramon Stephen Villaflor (right), Baguio City Vice Mayor Faustino Olowan (middle) and Baguio City Representative Marquez Go (left) lead the groundbreaking of the Barangay Hall Multi-Purpose Complex in Barangay Engineer’s Hill, Baguio City on January 7, 2022, which PAGCOR is helping to rehabilitate.

The architectural rendition of the Barangay Hall Multi-Purpose Complex for Barangays Bayan Park Village and Engineer’s Hill in Baguio City.

PAGCOR’s Vice President (VP) for Corporate Social Responsibility Group Ramon Stephen Villaflor (3rd from left) and Baguio City Representative Marquez Go (4th from left) are joined by (from left) PAGCOR’s Community Relations and Services Department (CRSD) officials Senior Manager Joaquin Abejar Jr., Acting Assistant VP Eric Balcos; and Baguio City officials including Vice Mayor Faustino Olowan, City Administrator Bonifacio Dela Peña, and Bayan Park Village Barangay Captain Melvin Cortes during the groundbreaking ceremony of the Barangay Hall Multi-Purpose Complex in Barangay Bayan Park Village, Baguio City on January 7, 2022.

PAGCOR officials headed by Chairman and CEO Andrea Domingo (3rd from right) turns over the P50 million cheque to Baguio City Officials led by Mayor Benjamin Magalong (3rd from left) on December 4, 2021 as financial grant for the rehabilitation of Barangays Engineer’s Hill and Bayan Park Village.

The year 2022 came with a bang for two towns in Benguet after they received P100 million funding from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) for the construction of Multi-Purpose Evacuation Centers (MPECs).

The towns of Buguias and Mankayan, which became the latest beneficiaries of PAGCOR’s MPEC Project, each received P25 million during the project’s groundbreaking ceremonies on January 6, 2022.  The amount represented the first tranche of the P50 million grant for the two-storey MPEC projects which will soon rise in Barangay Bangao, Buguias and Barangay Tabio in Mankayan.

Barangay Captain Linda Tagubasi of Bangao, Buguias expressed her gratitude to PAGCOR because through the MPEC project, their barangay will no longer need to pay rent whenever they need a large space for community activities. Also, they need not worry about lack of temporary shelters for displaced families whenever calamities arrive.

Meanwhile, the local chief executives of Buguias and Mankayan expressed their gratitude to PAGCOR for the MPEC project grant.

“It is a welcome news that we will soon have a P50 million-worth evacuation center in partnership with PAGCOR dito sa aming munisipyo, which is the northernmost part of the province of Benguet. It is a little mindblowing na ganito po kalaki,” said Mankayan Mayor Atty. Frenzel Ayong.

Buguias Mayor Ruben Tinda-an also thanked PAGCOR for making such project possible. “I am very elated that at the start of the year, here comes the approval of PAGCOR sa ganitong kalaking project na makakatulong sa munisipyo namin. We wish to extend our full gratitude to PAGCOR including those who have facilitated this project.

According to PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Andrea Domingo, through its MPEC project, the state-run gaming firm stays committed to its mission of providing calamity-prone communities with safe evacuation shelters. "Despite the challenges in revenue generation due to the ongoing pandemic – and now the new surge in cases which will again have a huge impact on our economic activity, we still hold on to our promise of helping build safe structures for typhoon-prone communities. Our aim is not only to help save lives but also help build sustainable and safe communities," she explained.

Launched in 2020, PAGCOR has now released a total of of P1.516 billion to kickstart the construction of 66 MPECs nationwide. The amount represents the first tranche or 50% of PAGCOR's committed funding for the project.

Areas which already received MPEC funding from PAGCOR include the provinces of Benguet, Zambales, Batangas, Laguna, Quezon, Cavite, Cagayan, Pampanga, Albay, Camarines Sur and Norte, Mountain Province, Kalinga, Ilocos Sur,  Zamboanga del Sur, Romblon, Capiz, Samar, Tarlac, Aurora, Bataan, Eastern and Southern Leyte, Pangasinan, Isabela, Catanduanes, Oriental and Occidental Mindoro, Isabela, and Caloocan.

Apart from the MPEC groundbreaking ceremonies in Mankayan and Buguias, PAGCOR also held the groundbreaking of two Barangay Hall Multi-Purpose complexes in Engineer’s Hill and Bayan Park Village in Baguio City on January 7, 2022. The P50 million cheque – with P25 million allocation per barangay complex – was already turned over to the Baguio City government in December 2021 to help rehabilitate the existing structures.

Engineer’s Hill Barangay Captain Amado Felizardo said the soon-to-be upgraded facility of the barangay will serve as a good venue for regular meetings, livelihood trainings, social activities, religious events, among others.

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