PAG-IBIG, PBSP ink accord for water system project to benefit upland sitio in Cebu City

PAG-IBIG, PBSP ink accord for water system project to benefit upland sitio in Cebu City 
Philippine Information Agency
June 15, 2011

CEBU CITY, June 15 (PIA) -- For years, inhabitants of this mountainous sitio have to walk for hours just to access water from a natural source. Today, residents of Sitio Sayaw in upland Barangay Tabunan, Cebu City can heave a sigh of relief with the construction of a new potable water system.

Over 30 households from mountainous Sitio Sayaw in Cebu City will now have improved access to water through the Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF) or Pag-IBIG Fund’s Potable Water System Project.

This project was made possible through an agreement between Pag-IBIG Fund Cebu South Branch and the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), which involves the establishment of a Level 2 potable water system in Sitio Sayaw, Tabunan, Cebu City.

PAG-IBIG, PBSP and the Sayaw Farmers Group signed the project MOA last June 2 at the PAG-IBIG Fund-WT Corporate Tower in Cebu Business Park, Cebu City. Signatories of the MOA were Pag-IBIG Fund Cebu Branch Officer-in-Charge and Department Manager III Rio Teves, PBSP Visayas Regional Operations Manager Jessie Cubijano and Sayaw Farmers Association President Ricardo Labora.

“As a financial institution that largely deals with housing projects, we know how important water is to every household,” Teves stated during the MoA signing.

The Pag-IBIG Potable Water System Project, worth P60,000.00, will take the form of spring boxes that collect water from springs and other natural water resources in upland areas and keep stored water safe from contamination. The project will allow for two distribution stations for the households within the area.

PAG-IBIG selected Sitio Sayaw as its community because of its difficult access to potable water and other basic social services. Sitio Sayaw is located approximately 10 kilometers from the Transcentral Highway, which is 25 kilometers away from the city proper.

“We are truly grateful to Pag-IBIG for this assistance. Now, we have a potable water facility we could call our own and the health of our children is secured,” Labora said.

Under the agreement, PBSP will serve as the implementing agency on the construction of the water system as well as take charge in the monitoring of the project.

“We want to make sure that our funds will go to projects that are more sustainable and our partnership with PBSP will ensure that these qualities are met,” Teves added.

The potable water system project signalizes Pag-IBIG Cebu’s commitment to adopt Sitio Sayaw as its community for its following Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives through the Pag-IBIG 1-4-3 Program, a flagship initiative of the institution aimed at funding long-term projects to adopted needy communities as its expression of corporate social responsibility.

Funds for the program, which was launched in January 2011, are obtained from P500 contributions of all Pag-IBIG employees.

The Pag-IBIG Fund is the country’s leading housing financial provider for three decades. In 2010, it remains to be one of the most profitable financial institutions having generated a revenue of P22.4 billion and assets worth P278 billion. To date, Pag-IBIG is operating nationwide with 35 branches and more than 17 extension offices.

Last year, the Pag-IBIG Fund through its Employees’ Labor Association also partnered with PBSP for a supplemental feeding program that benefited 60 children in Babag, a barangay identified by the Lapu-Lapu City government as having the highest population of malnourished children.

This is the first time, however, that Pag-IBIG embarked on a CSR program by permanently adopting a community, with its Cebu South Branch taking the lead.

Teves hopes that with the success of this project, other branches nationwide will follow suit or come up with their own sustainable projects applicable in their areas of jurisdiction.

“This is our way of saying thank you to our stakeholders. With projects like this, we make sure that our funds go to something more worthwhile, which leaves a lasting effect to our community,” Teves said.

Aside from the construction of the potable water system, Pag-IBIG is also set to take part in the 2011 Reforestation Caravan kickoff on June 2011. Organized by PBSP, this activity aims to reforest at least 100 hectares of the denuded Cebu Hillylands within the year.