Ang Magiting - The Official Web Site of Rotary Club Makati North

Turnover of Gawad Kalinga Housing Units

By: Betty Centeno
June 11, 2011

Prayers were answered last Saturday, June 11th, for good weather (after typhoon ‘Dodong’) in time for the official turnover to beneficiaries of 2 clusters, or 8 housing units in GK Ave Maria, Sitio Banlic, Brgy. Sampaloc, Tanay, Rizal.

Pres. Mac McLean, spouse Izzy, PP Vic Austria and the RCMN Staff represented the club, while GK-CFC was represented by Mr. Dennis Arcilla (Provincial Head Rizal), Mr. Boy Gumabon (Community Organizer Head Rizal) and Mr. Amang Batac (Project Director Ave Maria).

Before the formal turnover, a short program was held with Mr. Carlos Balboa , Program Manager of Kapitbahayan acting as the moderator. National Anthem was led by Ms. Glucel Miralles, Reading of the MOA was done by Mrs. Emma Gonsale. Pres. Mac & PP Vic delivered also their respective messages. After which, a special dance number was presented by the children of Kapitbahayan.

Mr. Carlos Balboa gave a little backgrounder on how the GK Ave Maria started. He said that the ground breaking was held in 2003, where Mr. Romy Guinto was the 1st project coordinator. In 2006, the 1st cluster was started to be built and in May 2008, the turnover for the initial beneficiaries.

Balboa further explained the mechanics for awardees: that the beneficiaries must contribute 2000 hours in helping building the unit under the so-called ‘sweat-equity’.

The beneficiary/families of the eight (8) housing units were:
1. Mr./ Mrs. Antonio & Maria Fe Garcia – Unit #36
2. Mr./Mrs. Leovigildo & Teresita Belga – Unit #37
3. Mr./Mrs. Alfredo & Violeta Mahusay – Unit #33
4. Mr./Mrs. Arsenio & Perlita Wanason – Unit #40
5. Mr./Mrs. Ryaan & Mardy Zarate – Unit #35
6. Mr./Mrs. Rolly & Nida Brito – Unit#34
7. Mr./Mrs. Marlon & Michelle Flores – Unit# 38
8. Mr./Mrs. Manuel & Delia Volante – Unit #39

Aside from the housing project, the SIBOL teachers requested possible assistance from the club through PP Vic Austria:

1. To provide books for the community’s on-site learning center that will start this school year for children aged between 3 – 6 years. To date, about twenty (20) children have been enrolled.
2. To provide monthly allowance for the two POVEDA-trained resident-teachers (P20/pupil/month, i.e. P2,000 for 20 pupils per month. The two resident-teachers will be continuously supervised by POVEDA.

After a hearty lunch, the RCMN group left the area at 2:15 pm. PP Vic Austria and the RCMN Staff passed by the Antipolo Church to say a prayer of thanks for the successful turnover and safe travel.

We would like to thank once again our RCMN members, our sister clubs: RC Shah Alam, RC Raffles City and RC Hongkong Island East for their support and donation to make this housing project a success.