TACLOBAN CITY – Persons with disabilities who were victims of supertyphoon Yolanda will be beneficiaries of a housing resettlement community in Sta. Fe, Leyte. BDO Foundation and Foundation for These-Abled Persons Inc. (FTI) together with the provincial government of Leyte through Governor Leopoldo Dominico Petilla broke ground last May 19 of the 1.3 hectare housing resettlement site in Sta. Fe town. The housing resettlement site, which is one of the rehabilitation projects of BDO Foundation under its Disaster Response Program for typhoon Yolanda-ravaged Eastern Visayas, will have 100 shelter units complete with kitchenette and toilet facilities. Each duplex is 46 square meters or 23 square meters per home and all concrete (including the roof) to make it more disaster resilient. The total project cost, including the cost of land that FTI purchased through a long-term loan with Hong Kong Trust, is P28 million. About P16 million has been allocated by the BDO Foundation to fund part of the land and site development, the construction of 100 shelter units and workshop, the training of the workers, the tools, and equipment for building. The shelter units and land development are to be jointly funded by BDO Unibank and donations from clients. It will house a workshop/multipurpose hall of about 300 square meters funded by BDO employees’ donation where the community members will be trained on new construction technology of producing pre-fabricated walls for housing which can be their source of livelihood. The model community is envisioned to create sustainable enterprises beyond the disaster recovery phase for persons with disability to be productive and become part of the economic process. Gov. Petilla, in his message, lauded and thanked BDO Foundation and FTI for giving particular attention to physically disabled individuals who have been rendered homeless during the massive typhoon that struck Leyte and other parts of Eastern Visayas last November 8, 2013. “We are indeed thankful to the BDO Foundation and the Foundation for TheseAbled Persons, Inc. for coming up with this project to especially benefits our physically handicapped. In these days when all we think about is how we can get all things back to normal, this endeavor giving special attention for our unique individuals is very much laudable,” Petilla said. In recent months, BDO Foundation also mounted relief efforts for affected families of typhoon Yolanda in various parts of the region. (AHLETTE C. REYES)
