Why Margie deserves another crown

Last Tuesday, I wrote about five women I admire – Oprah Winfrey, for making the most of her talents and using her success to make a difference in the lives of millions; former President Cory Aquino for her sincerity, integrity and courage in the face of great odds; President Gloria Arroyo for her focus and steely determination; Gina de Venecia, for turning good intentions into good deeds and Jackie Kennedy Onassis, for her grace, style and legacy.

At the Bulong Pulungan lunch forum at the Hotel Philippine Plaza last week, I had the chance again to meet another woman I admire, too: former Miss Universe Margie Moran-Floirendo.

Looking like she just crowned her successor, 51-year-old Margie seems to have everything going for her – beauty, brains, bucks and stature. In midlife, she is preoccupied with causes that go beyond preserving her beauty – Margie is one of the founders of Mothers for Peace, an NGO that seeks to prevent war by starting with the mothers who raise sons who may one day be soldiers or rebels; tourism promotion in Mindanao; the production of quality stage plays; and Habitat for Humanity.

Habitat for Humanity is a non-profit, ecumenical Christian housing ministry that seeks to eliminate poverty housing and to make decent shelter a matter of conscience and action.

Invited a few years ago by tycoon Fernando Zobel de Ayala to be part of Habitat’s board in the Philippines, Margie is one of the project’s prime movers.

"You should see the total transformation in the family once they have their own home!" Margie points out. "But building a home for the poor is the easiest part of the process. Preparing them for a change in their lifestyle once they have their own home is more difficult."

We asked Margie if her high-profile involvement in Habitat for Humanity is a prelude to her throwing her hat (crown?) into the political ring. After all, her husband, Davao Rep. Tonyboy Floirendo, is on his last term.

"Oh, no," says Margie.

Never say never!

* * *

In the Philippines, the first local affiliates of Habitat for Humanity International were established in 1988. Today, Habitat for Humanity in the Philippines has built nearly 10,000 houses in more than 100 communities and has a presence in 20 provinces and 29 cities with 29 affiliates and 18 satellites.

With Margie at the forum was community organizer Ruth Callanta of the Center for Community Transformation (CCT). Ruth’s group also has micro-lending services for disadvantaged women and is instrumental in giving out "loans" to interested homeowners. Ruth once told me that women borrowers are very trustworthy and you can expect them to honor their debts (hurray for women!). Her group helps identify the beneficiaries of a home from Habitat, where no home is free but is built with very easy repayment terms (around P1,500 monthly, which is sometimes the cost of the rent of a one-room shack in squatter colonies.)

Ruth proudly reports a 96 to 98 percent rate of repayment from CCT’s borrowers.

Each 30-square-meter house costs between P40,000 to P60,000. Land is either donated or provided by government. One third of the money donated for the houses comes from abroad, the European Community being one of the active donors.

Doesn’t Habitat for Humanity "compete" with Gawad Kalinga and vice versa?

"Not at all," smiles Margie. "There are about three million homeless Filipinos, and both our efforts are just a drop in the bucket when it comes to building homes for the homeless."

* * *

According to Margie, Habitat for Humanity builds simple, decent houses with the help of homeowner (known as home-partner) families, volunteer labor and donations of money and materials (a generous donor of toilet fixtures is Toto, reveals Margie. )

Habitat houses are sold to home-partner families at no profit. Home-partners repay through affordable, zero-interest, inflation-adjusted mortgage loans (this is where Ruth Callanta comes in). Their monthly mortgage payments go to a local revolving fund to be used to build still more Habitat Homes.

"Habitat is not a giveaway program," points out Margie. In addition to an initial downpayment of one-third of the house’s cost and monthly mortgage payments, homeowners invest hundreds of hours of their own labor – sweat equity – into building their house and the house of others.

Additional muscle for construction comes from volunteers from local affiliates, partner corporations and youth groups. Students from all over Asia, the US and Europe come to the Philippines to help build homes, not only contributing $200 each, but also participating in the construction of the house. The foreign volunteers’ request after their "hard labor" is usually a trip to Boracay – at their own expense, of course.

* * *

I asked Margie why she does this when very easily, she can live the life of a lady of leisure.

"My involvement in this ministry is good works and service to the Lord as well as the fulfillment of my role as a socially responsible person, helping provide a solution to a pressing problem so that everyone will have a decent place to live in."

Margie for congressman? Why not? She’ll bring a whole new universe to the halls of Congress.

(For inquiries about Habitat for Humanity, please call 897-3069.)

Another person I admire is someone you will normally not read about in the Society pages. She is my Auntie Belen Reyes-Rosario, a widowed mother of three who spent close to 50 years of her life teaching home economics in a public high school in Bongabon, Oriental Mindoro, birthplace of my mother, Sonia.

Do you realize that in any given schoolday, children spend more of their waking hours with their teacher than with their own mother or yaya? During their most alert hours, they are with their teacher, five days a week, four weeks a month, for 10 months. Thus, one cannot underestimate the profound influence a teacher has over her students.

Even when her siblings and cousins moved to Manila or to cities abroad, Auntie Belen stayed in Bongabon. She not only has her roots in Bongabon, she is one of the town’s roots.

Last year, our family mourned the passing of two beloved aunts (Marion Calderon-Reyes and Pie Isler-Trinidad), both only in their sixties when called by their Maker. Thus, when Auntie Belen turned 70, the entire clan turned out in full force to celebrate!

My Auntie Belen’s birthday (celebrated with a lauriat at the Emerald Garden) was really a cause for celebration. She is my mom Sonia’s first cousin, an ate whom my mom spent many happy years growing up with in Bongabon. Thus, our happy memories of idyllic summers spent in that seaside town invariably has Auntie Belen in them. When we were little and would visit our grandparents every summer in Bongabon, we would not miss paying a visit to Auntie Belen’s house – she always served the sweetest mangoes, the most mouthwatering suman and chunky yema. Her yard also had the most prolific Indian mango tree in town!

Auntie Belen was widowed while her daughter Sheila and sons Dodjie and Mark were still in school, but she saw all of them through college in Manila. Now accomplished adults, her kids have also moved to Manila, but dear Auntie Belen has chosen to live in Bongabon, in her nice house with the prolific Indian mango tree, building memories with relatives whenever they visit the town from whence they all came.

* * *

(You may e-mail me at [email protected])