Fri | 02.19.2021 | 06:30 AM

Lemery Municipal Mayor Eulalio Alilio (3rd from left) and PAGCOR’s Assistant Vice President for Community Relations Ramon Stephen Villaflor (4th from left) lead the burying of time capsule during the groundbreaking ceremony of the PAGCOR Village in Lemery, Batangas. Also in photo are Lemery’s local officials.

PAGCOR’s Assistant Vice President for Community Relations Ramon Stephen Villaflor (2nd from left) and Agoncillo town Mayor Daniel Reyes (4th from left) bury the time capsule during the groundbreaking ceremony of the PAGCOR Village in Agoncillo, Batangas. Also in photo are Batangas 3rd district Representative Ma. Theresa Collantes (5th from left) and the town’s local officials.

PAGCOR’s Assistant Vice President for Community Relations Ramon Stephen Villaflor (left) turns over the P30 million grant to Agoncillo town Mayor Daniel Reyes (2nd from left). The amount will be used to build the PAGCOR Village in Agoncillo, Batangas which will provide 100 housing units to displaced locals who cannot afford to rebuild their houses, following the Taal Volcano eruption in 2020. Also in photo are Batangas 3rd district Representative Ma. Theresa Collantes (3rd from left) and Agoncillio town’s first lady Atty. Cindy Reyes (right).

Ginalyn Alcantara (middle), together with her husband and daughter, stands on the remains of what used to be their house’s living room. Since the Taal Volcano erupted in 2020, Ginalyn’s house--which she built after working for several years as a domestic helper in Malaysia--was turned into ruins. The volcano’s eruption caused ground displacement in Sitio Subic Ilaya in Agoncillo town, making their house unfit for use.

AGONCILLIO, Batangas -- While the Taal Volcano continues to show signs of possible phreatic eruption, endangering anew the families who were displaced by the volcano's eruption last year, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) unveiled its newest charitable project to safeguard the living condition of affected locals.

A brainchild project of PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Andrea Domingo, the PAGCOR Villages broke ground in the towns of Agoncillo and Lemery on February 18, 2021. They 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.

Each PAGCOR Village has a funding of P30 million. Its main features include 100 units of 30-square-meter houses and an arc or signage located at the entrance of the project site.

The PAGCOR Village in Lemery, which will be built in Brgy. Payapa Ilaya and Brgy. Talaga, are both outside the danger zone with up to 15 kilometers distance. Meanwhile, the project site in Agoncillo is in Brgy. San Jacinto, which is 14 kilometers away from the danger zone.

The beneficiary local government units' counterparts are to provide the land where the housing project will be constructed and ensure that the site has access to roads, water and electricity.

PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Andrea Domingo said the project came into fruition to provide more concrete and long-term solutions to locals who were displaced by Taal Volcano’s eruption last year.

“When the Taal Volcano erupted in January 2020, we deployed volunteer PAGCOR employees who immediately distributed food and non-food essentials to affected locals. However, the bigger problem was the loss of homes and properties of many families living in the towns surrounding the volcano. Now, in spite of the ongoing pandemic, we launched this program not only to provide permanent housing for Taal-affected families who have no means to rebuild their homes, but to also give them hope to rise above their situation,” she explained.

Ginalyn Alcantara, 50 years old, was one of the locals from Sitio Ilaya in Agoncillo who lost their home during the Taal Volcano eruption in January 2020. A former domestic helper in Malaysia, Alcantara narrated how she saved her salary for seven years just to pay off the loan she incurred to build her family’s dream house.

“Nang pumutok ang Taal noong nakaraang taon, nagkaroon ng malalaking bitak ‘yung bahay namin dahil sa sunod-sunod na lindol. Tumataas din yung tubig lawa. Dati lagpas pa sa 100 meters yung tubig mula sa bakuran namin pero ngayon, kinain na ng tubig pati ang loob ng bahay. Lahat ng pagod ko sa pagtatrabaho sa ibang bansa ay nabale-wala sa isang iglap. Back to zero talaga kami," she tearfully narrated. 

Alcantara's family is temporarily living in her sister's old house, as they have nowhere else to stay. She added that because of the pandemic, she and her partner make ends meet by selling native rice cakes and tending to some backyard farm animals.

Luckily, Alcantara and her family became beneficiaries of the PAGCOR Village in Agoncillo. "Laking pasasalamat po namin sa PAGCOR. Kung ang kasalukuyang hanapbuhay lang po namin ang aasahan, matatagalan po na makapag-patayo ulit kami ng bahay," she said.

Agoncillo Mayor Daniel Reyes said about 1,700 houses in their town were damaged during the Taal eruption and the series of typhoons that battered the country in 2020. "Of this number, around 400 houses were completely destroyed. Kaya nagpapa-salamat po kami sa PAGCOR dahil mabibigyan ng pabahay yung ilan naming kababayan na wala na talagang babalikan," he said.

Likewise, Lemery Mayor Eulalio Alilio expressed his gratitude to PAGCOR for helping build a housing community for his displaced constituents. "Dahil sa sunod-sunod na mga pagyanig ng lupa, tumaas ang tubig sa ilang mga bayan na hindi dati binabaha kaya maraming mga pamilya ang wala nang babalikang bahay. Dahil din sa pandemic, depleted na ang pondo ng aming lokal na pamahalaan kung kaya't malaking tulong itong proyekto ng PAGCOR," he shared.

Aside from the "PAGCOR Village", the state-run gaming firm also allocated P2 billion for the Multi-Purpose Evacuation Center Project which is aimed is to provide temporary shelter for typhoon-prone communities around the country.

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