Yolanda victims as beneficiaries SM breaks ground for housing project

CEBU, Philippines -  The SM Group, through SM Cares, yesterday held a groundbreaking ceremony yesterday of its housing project in Barangay Pulambato, Bogo City, their effort to help ease the burden of those who lost their homes when super typhoon Yolanda struck northern Cebu.

Hans Sy, the president of SM Prime Holdings Inc., said that this is the company’s first step in the housing project for the typhoon victims. The SM Cares Housing Project will build 200 houses.

 In an interview, he told the media that since Tacloban City was the talk of everybody, he called their team and asked them to conduct surveys in other areas that were equally victimized by the typhoon.

“We are working together and chose Bogo City as beneficiaries,” he said, adding it was fortunate for them that the heirs of Wenceslao and Margarita Briones Fernan, represented by Eloisa Fernan, donated a one-hectare lot.

Aside from Bogo City, Sy said they also have a housing project in Leyte, Samar and Panay Island which were also devastated by the super typhoon.

The constructions of the houses in Barangay Pulambato will begin in two weeks time and will take nine months to finish, he said.

 â€œThis is for free (houses)…we are not putting a housing but a sustainable one,” he said, adding it is a bit more expensive but the direction of the company is to build houses that can withstand typhoons.

The cost of the construction of the SM Cares Village in Bogo City is P50 million. Each unit will cost P250,000.

Sy said that each house will be built with concrete roofing, a high ceiling, proper ventilation and utility-ready provisions. The settlement will have a community center and a basketball court.

 Sy further said that the SM Cares Housing Project is part of the SM Group’s P100 million commitment to assist communities affected by Yolanda in the Visayas; broken down to P20 million for immediate relief operations, P20 million for the health matters, P20 million for the churches, P20 million for education and P20 million for shelter. The allocation for shelter was increased because of the in dire need, he said.

Sy called on the residents of Bogo City to move on and go forward.

Bogo City Mayor Celestino Martinez, Jr. said that after he received a call from the Fernan family he had a hard time sleeping for two days because of happiness. 

In his short message during the ceremony, he said that he was happy upon being informed that SM Cares offered to donate 200 houses to the indigent families affected by the typhoon.

 He said since Bogo City is too big to adopt, he offered the Adopt-a-Barangay Project and Pulambato was chosen.

Martinez said the beneficiaries of the housing project of the SM Cares will be those families in danger zones.

“We are on the process of selecting. The beneficiaries will be those who are homeless and have no means to rebuild their houses,” he stressed.

In her speech, Vice Governor Agnes Magpale, on behalf of the Province of Cebu, thanked the SM Group through SM Cares for adopting Pulambato. She said the beneficiaries are fortunate as they get free land plus free houses.

Marissa Fernan, vice president for VisMin of SM Prime Holdings Inc. and a daughter of Eloisa Fernan, said that her mother wanted to give back to farmers. The Fernan family owns 63 hectares.

 If one hectare will be sold, she said it will be equivalent to P3 million or P300 per square meter.

 The Adopt-a-Barangay Project of Bogo City is a two-year community rebuilding plan created to address the local government’s limited resources in rebuilding the houses of its constituents.

 The estimated worth of damage wrought in Bogo City alone is set at P700 million, while the total estimated cost for the rebuilding of houses of the people of Bogo is P295,612,589 as of the initial damage assessment.

 SM also announced that they are inviting partners to join them in the housing project through the sponsorship of houses and help them reach their target of 1,000 residential units. Interested donors may visit SM City Cebu mall administration office located at the 2nd level of the SM Northwing.

 SM Cares says that their goal is not just to serve as a retail industry leader, but also to act as a catalyst towards positive change in the nation and leading by example when it comes to corporate social responsibility.  -/BRP (FREEMAN)