TACLOBAN CITY- The Philippine Geothermal Production Company, Inc. donated P2 million to the BDO Foundation to help repair a school building in Northern Samar damaged during the onslaught of supertyphoon Yolanda.
The move of the PGPCI was in response to the call of the Department of Education for the private sector to help rebuild schools that sustained damages or were destroyed during the massive typhoon that hit the Visayas, six months ago.
The PGPCI donation would be use to repair a four-classroom in an elementary school in Barangay Bay-bay, Catarman in Northern Samar.
Maila Ong, director for policy, government, and public affairs of the PCPCI, said that they team up with the BDO Foundation to show their support to the call of the DepEd in the rebuilding of school buildings severely damaged by the Yolanda.
In Northern Samar, Brgy. Bay-bay is one of the hardest hit areas by the typhoon and classified by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) as one of the hazard-prone areas in the province.
Ong also said that part of the donation aims to support fishermen in the Eastern Visayas by providing them motorized fishing boats.
“Philippine Geothermal and BDO Foundation share a mutual commitment to education and livelihood development. We hope that the rehabilitation of schools and revival of income sources of families affected by Yolanda will drive the continuous recovery of these local communities,”Ong said.
On the other hand, Maureen Abelardo, president of the BDO Foundation says “ following the disaster response activities of the BDO Foundation which has reached 60,000 families in underserved areas affected by typhoon Yolanda, BDOF now focuses on rehabilitation efforts involving the rehabilitation of educational facilities, rural health and community centers and resettlement sites, as well as provide livelihood assistance.”
The donation was formalized with the signing of a deed of donation by PGPCI president Antonio Yee, Abelardo, and BDO Foundation trustee Corazon dela Paz-Bernardo.
PGPCI’s P2 million donation to the BDOF is part of the donations received from its employees in its Makati head office as well as in MakBan and Tiwi who opted to forego their respective Christmas parties.
Donations were likewise made to the Philippine Red Cross and SM Foundation amounting to P500, 000 each. Boxes and drop off points were also designated in the company’s three locations for cash and kind donations from employees, generating more than P300, 000.
Employees also volunteered their time in various activities related to the typhoon and relief operations. Tiwi-based employees helped in the repacking efforts spearheaded by the Albay Provincial government while MakBan and Makati employee volunteers trooped to various relief operation centers led by the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Red Cross, Ateneo, Kapuso Foundation and the University of the Philippines in Los Banos.
PGPCI is a Filipino corporation operating the Tiwi and Mak-Ban geothermal fields. It is owned by All First Equity Holdings, Inc., an affiliate of SM Investments Corporation, and Chevron Geothermal Philippines Holdings, LLC. (RYAN GABRIEL L.ARCENAS)
