Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City—The Armed Forces of the Philippines turned over today, January 6, over P300,000 in cash donations raised through various charity projects facilitated by the AFP’s Northern Luzon Command.
The total amount was handed over to Sagip Kapamilya Foundation thru Ms Tina Monzon-Palma in a ceremony held at the GHQ Conference Room here.
The series of fund raising projects started immediately after the attack on Zamboanga City last September. The first project, which is the crafting of furnitures out of uprooted trees due to typhoon Santi, was hatched in a command conference in NOLCOM presided by Lt. Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr.
A few weeks after the Zamboanga incident came the earthquake in Bohol; then on the early part of November, Typhoon Yolanda devastated parts of Visayas. It was also agreed that several fundraising activities will be done to help our people in the south even as central Luzon was also hit by typhoon Santi.
Hundreds of uprooted trees ranging from decades old Acacia and Mahogany and other trees like Gemelina were gathered and crafted into dining sets, TV racks, cabinets and other furniture by soldiers of NOLCOM.
The auction of said items was held on December 16 and was met with enthusiasm from the local folks. Even before the actual selling, all the furniture sets have already been reserved and sold due to the overwhelming support of the people and different stakeholders who want to help our countrymen in Zamboanga, Bohol, Samar and Leyte.
The Golf for a Cause and Firing Tournament was held on Dec 18. The two tournaments were attended mostly by military personnel and businessmen from Central and Northern Luzon and National Capital Region who committed their support for the fundraising projects for calamity victims.
The Enduro Challenge and Battle of the Bands concert for a cause was held on Dec 20 which was participated in by different local bands who pledged support for the fundraising activity for our people in the south.
Sagip Kapamilya was chosen due to the stable partnership of the AFP and ABSCBN Sagip Kapamilya Foundation and the long list of joint projects which were undergone in this partnership specially the school building projects of Sagip Kapamilya under the Program "Gusto Kong Mag-aral" where engineering equipment and expertise comes from the AFP while construction materials is being provided by Sagip Kapamilya and the labor force consist of Bayanihan of local populace and soldiers.
The partnership on school building projects was started in 2011 with the then AFP National Development Support Command and Sagip Kapamilya. The first school constructed in this partnership is the two-classroom schoolbuilding in Brgy Yunot, Bulalacao, Oriental Mindoro which benefitted the Hanunuo Tribe.
In 2011 alone Sagip Kapamilya in partnership with the AFP constructed a total of 124 classrooms nationwide including the 50 classrooms in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan which were constructed after typhoon Sendong. In 2012 a total of 86 more classrooms nationwide were constructed under this partnership.
In 2013, in Northern and central Luzon area a total of 27 school buildings were constructed under this partnership.
Right now, three more schoolbuildings are being constructed. These schoolbuildings are also designed to be utilized as evacuation centers during calamities.
