Bayanijuan sa Calauan in Laguna

Former Estero de Paco resident Flor Villalon was beaming with joy as she toured me around her 24 sq m home in BayaniJuan sa Calauan, a resettlement site located in Laguna, about 1.5 hours drive from Metro Manila. She exclaimed "I am so happy. I now have my own home."

Estero de Paco, taken by Damon Lynch in 2009

Flor is one of the beneficiaries of ABS-CBN Foundation's Kapit Bisig Para sa Ilog Pasig (KBPIP), roughly translated as join hands for Pasig River. KBPIP has been at the forefront to clear the 27-km Pasig River and its tributaries of garbage. In order to clean the river, they have to first relocate the informal settlers living along it which is estimated to be 5,000 families (right photo shows a typical riverside neighborhood, photo taken by Damon Lynch). The families are relocated to the 107-hectare National Housing Authority (NHA) site in Calauan, Laguna now called BayaniJuan sa Calauan.

The plan is to gradually build-up the site to 10,000 families over a period of seven years to adequately provide basic support services. However, with the onslaught last year of typhoon Ondoy, the population has now swelled to 4,000 families and with the weekly average of 100 families arriving from typhoon hit areas, the site will reach half its planned target in less than one year.

View from Pedro Gil, taken by Damon Lynch in 2009

According to Renato "Kaka" Constantino, in-charge of Community Development, they are facing two challenges: one is Education, there are currently 900 students handled by only nine teachers. The school has already instituted two shifts from 6-11 and 12 to 5pm to accommodate the growing size. Second is to introduce sustainable projects to provide means of livelihood. He said that there is an urgent need to 'retool, retrain and equip' the relocatees because most are unskilled ambulant vendors. Livelihood is important so that they can decently provide for their family and not seek work back in Manila.

Kaka said that the easiest entry point for livelihood in BayaniJuan sa Caluan is construction i.e. carpentry, plumbing and house wiring. TESDA has trained 50 workers (and is training more) who are now part of the construction and iron and sash teams building the homes pledged by Sunlife, Habitat for Humanity, Ayala etc. Tetchie Diego, who is in-charge of Livelihood and Support Service has set-up projects targeted to women such as making bags out of used newspaper which is now sold to Manila-based stores (left photo), picture frames and will soon introduce organic farming such as ampalaya, vegetables and arugula and sewing as soon as their pledged high-speed sewing machines arrive.

At the moment, the site has no central water or power supply. There are water pumps located in every block and potable water is sold at P3 per 5-gallon containers. Adtel has donated solar energy to power street lampposts and the school. There is a clinic with a 24/7 nurse and Dr. Sonny Viloria, one of the pioneers of the practice of Natural Medicine in the country, comes every Thursday and Friday.

According to Kaka, they will be building a wet market soon and to accommodate more school children, 15 classroom (donated by NHA) is under construction beside the existing school at Site 1 and 36 classroom (donated by the Pasig City government will be built in Site 3 .


Gina Lopez, managing director of ABS-CBN Foundation said early last year during the site's launch “Bayanijuan sa Calauan is about showing how the Filipino spirit can be, how we can all work together...This is an ideal place, where we can bring the informal settlers from Pasig River to transform and improve their lives through Bayanijuan.” Well, she didn't expect the population to quadruple! Her target was at least 1,000 families per year. Our company recently visited the site to check out how we can support. If you are interested to help, please contact Ish Panganiban, Resource Mobilization Officer at (+632)415-2227 or (+63927) 649-9140 or email ishpanganiban@yahoo.com.

2010 Philippine Holidays - long weekends!!

To all the Kaladkarins out there, it's time to plot out the holidays this 2010. One thing I'll surely miss when PGMA steps down this May 2010 is her penchant for organizing 3-day weekends. She started this in 2008 when she laid out 10 long weekends by transferring some holidays to a Monday or a Friday. Her strategy dubbed 'holiday economics' would allow pinoys to spend more time with their families and thus, boost domestic tourism. Well, I guess the latter worked. According to a report, during the first nine months last year, the volume of domestic tourist increased by 21% while foreign tourist grew only by 2.7%.

For 2010, here's the schedule of long-weekends based on Republic Act 9492 and Proclamation 1841:

February 22 (Mon) - EDSA Revolution Anniversary (three-day long weekend from Feb 20)
April 1 (Thu) - Holy Thursday
April 2 (Fri) - Good Friday (four-day long weekend from April 1 to 4)
April 9 (Fri) - Araw ng Kagitingan (three-day long weekend from April 9 to 11)
May 1 (Sat) - Labor Day
June 14 (Mon) - Independence Day (three-day long weekend from June 12 to 14)
August 23 (Mon) - Ninoy Aquino Day (three-day long weekend from August 21 to 23)
August 30 (Mon) - National Heroes Day (three-day long weekend from August 28 to 30)
September - Eid'l Fitr (TBA, calculated September 10, possible three-day long weekend from September 10 to 12)
November 1 (Mon) - All Saints Day (three-day long weekend from October 30 to November 1)
November - Eid 'l Adha (TBA, calculated November 16)
November 29 (Mon) - Bonifacio Day (three-day long weekend from November 27 to 29)
December 24 (Fri) - Non-Working Holiday
December 25 (Sat) - Christmas Day
December 27 (Mon) - Rizal Day (four-day long weekend from December 24 to 27)
December 31 (Fri) - Non-Working Holiday
January 1 - (Sat) New Year's Day (three-day long weekend from December 31 to January 2)

Once in a blue moon in Bombay

Yup, not only was it a blue moon but a lunar eclipse as well! According to NASA's Five Millennium Catalog of lunar eclipses, this combination happens only 11 times in a thousand years. So I guess this holiday must be an auspicious one especially since we were basking in the moonlight during the New Year at the Bombay Gymkhana with 3,000 other revelers.

It's not my first time in India but my first time in Bombay as the residents refer to Mumbai, the financial capital of India and the most populated city in the world with 20 million people. It is coined the 'city of dreams' and draws mostly dreamers seeking a better life. That's why the city is the most ethnically diverse than the other states - aside from Maharastras, there are Gujaratis, Parsis, Muslims, etc.

Bombay is also a city of extremes where you can see a billionaire's mansion towering more than 20-storey high (left, Andani's new mansion taken on Peddar Road) and next to it are the slums, about 2,000 where the 55% of the population live.

I joined the Reality Tour to Dharvi the largest slum in Bombay, and the largest in the world. Honestly, after reading Shantaram and watching Slumdog Millionaire, I was expecting to see people in dire straits. I was pleasantly suprised to see Dharvi abuzz with thriving SMEs- from plastic recycling plants, tannery, sewers, soap-making. And although the homes are a little bit tiny with sizes varying from less than 10 sq ft, 10x10 and 20sq ft shared with average 4-5 people, most of the homes have split-type aircons and flat TV screens.

Bottom-line is, I enjoyed Bombay - the food, shopping and the sights. I didn't get claustrophobic or experienced the infamous deli belly. I must thank Rae, Angeline and Michael for the trip even though a former Philippine resident likened Bombay to Quezon City! Har har... Here's wishing everyone an auspicious 2010! Happy new year!

Must check out:
Restaurants:
1. Sardar Pavbhaji (maharastra) at Tardeo Circle for the best local Pav Bhaji! Open until 2:30am. Bhaji is a potato-based curry and vegetable dish. Beware since both the pav (bread) and bhaji are loaded with butter!! Check photo on the right.
2. Bademiya (arab) behind Taj Mahal on Tulloch Road for the best kebab and tandooris. This is a roadside place which seats at least 50 people. Some use the hood of their cars for table. Open until wee hours. They also serve vegetarian dishes.
3. 87-year old Britania (parsi) on 16 Sprott Rd. where I agree with the motto "there is no love greater than the love for eating". Try khemma berry pulao, sali and dhansak dishes. The line gets long so go early or later. It closes at 4pm.
4. Trishna (Mangalorean)on Sai Barba Mag for its stir-fried with butter and garlic dishes - seafood galore especially known for its king crab dish!! There is a branch in London so this may be a bit touristy.
5. Joss (fusion) in the Business district (near Fab India). Note that Joss catered Bombay Gymkhana's New Year feast!

Shopping picks: Good Earth, Anokhi, Fab India, cotton world and for the fab cotton kurtas go to wholesale stores located at Crawford Market next to the old vegetable market

Sights nearby Bombay: Matheran Heights (stay at the Veranda in the Forest by Neeram), take the ferry and see the stone sculptures at Elephanta Caves, visit Ghandi's home (reco to read his biography before going) and take a Reality Tour in Dharvi's slum (photo on the left with our guide who is a resident of Dharvi) and a side tour to Dhobi Ghat.

Heroes of Dynamic Teen Company

What better way to celebrate Christmas than to give? So, when Cris Bonoan of the Maraming Bayani Foundation said she will be delivering school books to children in Cavite, I volunteered to help and organized a book drive by collecting books and school supplies from friends and colleagues.

The Cavite-site is the Dyanmic Teen Company (DTC) of push-cart educator Efren Penaflorida who was recently bestowed the title of CNN Hero of the Year in November 2009. DTC was founded in 1997 and aims to educate children of the slums as an alternative to gang membership. There are four push-cart kariton classrooms (right photo) which volunteers use to teach literacy, values formation, hygine and first aid.

Efren was being interviewed online by international media and thus, we were met by surprisingly very young heroes - - 17-year Emmanuel Bagual, fondly referred to as Kuya Em is the incumbent president of DTC, a Biblical Servant Leader, a United Nations Advocate for Human Rights and one of the five finalists of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize for Children in Europe for his project “Mind Your Rights,” a campaign to educate children and parents on child’s rights.

The second young hero is bright and cheerful, 10-year old Chris Kesz. He is the youngest kariton volunteer and teaches hygiene and first aid. He was apparently found lying on the street, gravely ill abandoned by his mother at a young age.

After talking to the kids and helping out in their preparation for their annual Christmas party, Efren finally came down to meet us. He is very humble and unassuming despite his now celeb status. He still takes public transportation to meetings and events and is always on time. His zeal is infectious as evidenced by his effervescent, passionate volunteers. At the CNN Heroes award he says: "Our planet is filled with heroes, young and old, rich and poor, man, woman of different colors, shapes and sizes. We are one great tapestry...Each person has a hidden hero within, you just have to look inside you and search it in your heart, and be the hero to the next one in need...Serve, serve well, serve others above yourself and be happy to serve. As I always tell to my co-volunteers: you are the change that you dream, as I am the change that I dream, and collectively we are the change that this world needs to be."