TV5 Pinoy makeover introduces innovations

The idea of providing homes to the indigent, victims of fire, natural calamities and the disenfranchised has been in practice in our country for the longest time. Non-government organizations (NGOs) and communities would chip in through the bayanihan system. It just hadn’t been given a name. The most successful of these efforts has been the Gawad Kalinga (translated as “an Offer of Care”) which has spread its wings reaching Filipino donors and sponsors overseas. In becoming the first to bring the Home Makeover franchise to Asia, TV5 was not actually wading into alien territory. It was simply showing the world how comfortable we are in dealing with misfortune, and how open we are in lending a helping hand.

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is an American reality television series produced by Endemol USA whose other properties are Big Brother, Fear Factor, and Deal or No Deal. Extreme Makeover Philippines is aired Sunday nights at 8:30.

Each episode features a family in need of help after a natural disaster or life-threatening illness. The producers contact a local construction contractor to sponsor materials and cost of building a new house, in two weeks or less, during which time the family is treated to a vacation. The producers, workers, film crew, skilled and unskilled volunteers make up the team. Everything is donated and no one is paid.  

The Camella house for Jennifer Labial

We have been monitoring the show with Paolo Bediones as host/team leader, and Tessa Prieto-Valdes as guest interior designer. An inspiring story with JAO Builders as main sponsor is that of the Austria Family of Mabalacat, Pampanga. When Mt. Pinatubo erupted leaving Benjamin and Norma Austria homeless, four of their 10 children dead from disease, Norma continued her advocacy with an NGO involved with the homeless, disabled and unschooled in the community. This kind of person truly deserved the assistance of Extreme Makeover.

In the Rivera family Robinsons Land-sponsored house, son Rogelio Rivera, a scholar at the Pamantasan ng Valenzuela with a BA degree, was determined to better their lives. We followed their episode from the old house, to their sponsored vacation, and delightful homecoming to a new home with neighbors in attendance.       

The Green Homes-sponsored house of Marites Cardines

The Cardines family story tells of how an HIV positive couple from Cebu with HIV negative daughters, struggled against discrimination by participating in volunteer counseling on the misconceptions surrounding the disease. Their home makeover by Green Home was a very welcome reward.

As tragedy hits when least expected, Carmina Beleno’s comfortable life was shattered when Ondoy hit her Marikina home and she was found with second-degree cancer. Bostik answered for her home makeover, even as Carmina continued with her advocacy with prison detainees. Paolo who heard their story went with her and donated slippers to the inmates.  

The most recent home in Extreme Makeover Philippines has been that of Jennifer Labial from Cagayan de Oro by Camella Homes.

TV5 personnel admit that the series has been one of the most expensive ever produced locally with the first house delivered April 2012. We ask the team what made the Pinoy version unique. They answer, “In our aim to give not only a new home but also a new life to the families we help, we also make sure to always give the families tools to start their new life.” It often comes in the form of a fully loaded sari-sari store, education benefits for the children and medical packages.

The shortest home makeover project was by DateM, Inc. for the Aure family in Cavite which took 10 days to build, including the community project of a new school for multi-handicapped children. The longest construction schedule has been two months. Simultaneous buildings are conducted to keep up with the weekly airing on television. Basic criteria to become recipients are a unique and compelling family story, legal ownership of existing house/lot and an advocacy that would inspire the community.

We wondered when negative aspects would begin to appear as in the original US version, which had recipients selling off the homes at a profit. In answer, we are told monitoring of several months is part of the contract with the builders. TV5 also conducts post-mortem assessments on the family’s situation as they go through the journey of a new life.

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