News and Features
Smart Turns Over 25 More GK Houses In Cebu City
[March 12, 2007/Cebu City] - Smart Communications, Inc. (SMART) recently turned over 25 more houses to beneficiaries of the PLDT-Smart Amazing Gawad Kalinga (GK) Village in Barangay Budlaan, Cebu City.
This brings to 50 the total number of units completed. Smart turned over the first batch of 25 houses to informal settlers in barangays Talamban and Mabolo, Cebu City in June 2006.
“We hope that through our modest contribution, we are able to build not just homes, but also a better future for our less fortunate brothers and sisters,” said Napoleon L. Nazareno, president and CEO of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) Company and Smart.
Located on a 1.8-hectare land donated by the Cebu City Government through its housing program, this is the fourth GK Village adopted by PLDT and Smart. Upon completion, the village will have a total of 100 houses, all funded by Smart, parent firm PLDT and the PLDT Foundation.
Aside from funding the houses, PLDT and Smart have also committed to establish livelihood programs for the informal settlers. A greenhouse for the proposed vegetable garden has already been completed.
GK Budlaan Project Director Ondo Lim said that initially, produce from the vegetable farm will be for the consumption of the beneficiaries. Hence, the early harvest of tomatoes and string beans will be sold at a low cost to the residents.
“We foresee the vegetable garden to become an additional source of income when we can plant large-scale, and they can be sold commercially,” he said.
The vegetable garden is the second livelihood opportunity introduced to residents of the PLDT-Smart Amazing GK Village in Barangay Budlaan, Cebu City.
In October 2006, five residents were chosen to attend the Bags for Life workshop conducted by designer and weaver Lulu Ocampo. The five learned how to weave baskets and bags from rolled newspaper sheets and have since passed on the skill to other interested residents.
“GK is not just about shelter, but about building a better life,” said Lim. He said that he finds it very fulfilling to witness the turnover of more houses since this means that another batch of families will benefit not only from decent housing, but also from livelihood opportunities, improved health and better education, among others.
Including the village in Cebu, PLDT and Smart have adopted seven GK villages in the country. Other locations include Baseco Compound, Tondo, Manila; Brgy. Banglos, General Nakar, Quezon; Camp Abubakar, Barira, Maguindanao; Brgy. Manduriao, Iloilo City, Iloilo; Fort Magsaysay, Laur, Nueva Ecija; and St. Bernard, Southern Leyte.
Employee-volunteers from PLDT and Smart and members of SMART partner schools under the Smart Wireless Engineering Education Program (SWEEP) like the University of Cebu and Don Bosco Technology Center helped build the houses. @
