GK volunteers get clothing as payment

CEBU, Philippines - Gawad Kalinga has made it clear that giving few pieces of clothing as “payment” for those who helped in the repacking of goods is already its common practice.

GK Cebu head Antonio “Toby” Florendo told The Freeman, in a phone interview, that the organization has no fund to pay for these volunteers.

At least three to four pieces of clothing are given to those who helped in the repacking, depending on the time rendered for their services, he added.

“Basta mo-volunteer sila sa repacking that is how we pay them. Kay tinuod lang kung naa mi kwarta, kwarta among ihatag. We work on what we have. If they criticize us for doing that, it’s either we can just leave it there and do nothing,” he said.

It was earlier reported that a volunteer of the organization has been dragged in the issue regarding the unauthorized entry to its storage area at the Cebu International Convention Center where some goods were reported to have been stolen.

One of the videos kept by the organization showed that a volunteer brought some beneficiaries with him on the night of June 17 to get clothing at the CICC as their payment for the repacking.

Florendo said the volunteer was not authorized to do so. Because of the incident, the organization would implement a scheme of logging in and logging out for those who enter the storage area.

Gawad Kalinga Community Development Foundation, Inc. has been involved in post-Yolanda activities, such as rebuilding of houses, in northern Cebu.

The organization has also built numerous houses in Yolanda-hit areas through the so-called Ba-yani Challenge. The volunteers took part in medical missions, cleanup, planting mangroves, refurbishing schools, and feeding of thousands of kids.

Through the spirit of volunteerism, around 36, 800 who took part in the activity were able to refurbish 211 classrooms, plant 120,000 mangrove propagules, and feed 5,130 children in Sogod, Borbon, Daanbantayan, Santa Fe, Bantayan, Madridejos, Tabuelan, Medellin, San Remigio, Tabogon and Bogo City.

Yolanda’s onslaught on November 8 last year left a total of 103,831 houses damaged while 152,746 families were affected in northern Cebu.  (FREEMAN)