President’s Report:
My Dear Friends,
Last year, we launched a new program called BayaniJuan, which is helping rebuild distressed communities in the Philippines by means of a four-pronged approach anchored on the ABS CBN Foundation’s principal programs: Bantay Bata (Child Watch), Educational Media (ETV), Bantay Kalikasan (Environment Watch) and Bayan (Country) Microfinance. We selected five pilot sites (1.) Hagonoy, Bulacan; (2.) Oas, Bicol; (3.) Sagada, Mountain Province; (4.) Ticao, Masbate; and (5.) the Pasig River, Metropolitan Manila and you supported these through your participation in fundraising events in New York NY, Chicago IL, Napa CA and San Francisco CA.
Through your assistance, we successfully launched projects in the pilot locations. Among these is the establishment of nourishment feeding programs which will help keep children and communities healthier. In Oas, Bicol, for example, results following the feeding program’s first six months showed a 70% improvement in children’s nutrition. The program also trained community elders in nutrition, agri-technology, better waste management (through vermi-composting) and microfinance, to help develop a better, more stable environment.
Aside from health and nutrition, BayaniJuan also addressed educational needs with the distribution of the award-winning ETV package. A total of 18 public schools in the pilot sites were fitted with ETV equipment (TV set, DVD player and the ETV educational library of 108 titles), covering schools in Bicol, Albay, Donsol, Sagada and Quezon City. By using television as a medium to demonstrate lessons learned in the regular educational curriculum, ETV enhances school children’s comprehension and helps improve scholastic scores.
Within the communities, BayaniJuan is setting up material recovery facilities, vermi-compost facilities and nurseries, and assisting in the renovation and construction of some school buildings. The development of these facilities will help better community surroundings and the environment, spur local economies and enhance values and the Filipino cooperative spirit of bayanihan – the spirit which inspired, BayaniJuan.
This year, BayaniJuan is expanding its coverage to take in a new area under its guidance – Calauan, Laguna – a locality approximately 40 miles (65 kilometers) southeast of Metropolitan Manila. Calauan has been designated as the resettlement area for the communities which will be moved from the banks of the Pasig River, under the Kapit Bisig Para Sa Ilog Pasig (KBPIP) project. KBPIP, which translated means, “Linking Arms for the Pasig River,” is the ABS CBN Foundation’s campaign for the cleanup of the Pasig River – the most iconic river in the Philippines and the cradle of modern Filipino civilization. The Pasig River was the main commercial waterway which helped establish Manila as the capital city of the country. In the past half century however, the sharp and rapid rise of metropolitan population and industrialization led to the pollution and decline of the Pasig.
KBPIP will introduce a comprehensive approach to the cleanup drive which will include the actual cleaning of the river, as well as assistance for the thousands of informal settlers (or “squatters”) who have been living under bridges and along the riverbanks. With only makeshift homes, sparse utilities and a lack of proper waste management facilities these informal settlers have been raising families surrounded by the filth, garbage and stench which have characterized the river for years. As much as 65% of the garbage and waste in the Pasig River comes from these settlements and while the reality is truly distressing, it is not without solutions.
This is where BayaniJuan Calauan aims to lend a hand. With a 107-hectare (264 acres) plot of land donated by the Philippine government and private corporations, we can help shelter the 4,000 families from the Pasig’s riverbanks. New settlements will be built to offer modest, sturdy, safe and clean residences for the former river-dwellers. Aside from the housing component, BayaniJuan Calauan will create educational and livelihood opportunities to better ensure the community’s stability and sustainability. With steady support and nurturing, BayaniJuan Calauan will surely mirror the successes achieved in other BayaniJuan sites this past year.
All of BayaniJuan’s achievements, however, would not be possible without your help. And so today we come to you again to seek your support for this new endeavor. Attached here is a list of the projects and services which will help make the community of BayaniJuan Calauan a reality. Please choose a project and enjoin your family and friends to give the gift of new hope and renewed life to our kapamilya as they start their lives anew in BayaniJuan Calauan.
Sincerely,
Mitos Santisteban
President, ABS CBN Foundation US
Related Links
 ABS-CBN International
Sagip Kapamilya
Bantay Bata 163
E-Media/Educational (ETV)
Bantay Kalikasan
Bayan Microfinance
BayaniJuan
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