Sunday, May 18, 2008 Informal settlers to occupy GK Tabun Village By Ian Ocampo Flora
MABALACAT -- Informal settlers are set to become recipients of low-cost Gawad Kalinga (GK) housing project situated in a 1.2-hectare property in Barangay Tabun here.
The GK project in the barangay is headed by Rodrigo Macasaet, GK project director, and the Philippine Cabinet Spouses led by Solidad Mendoza. The Couples for Christ was instrumental in setting-up the GK Tabun Village. It initially sponsored 20 houses while the Provincial Capitol took charge on the beautification of several houses in the area.
A beautification contest, wherein offices and departments of the Capitol helped and competed in furbishing and decorating the houses, was also held in the GK Tabun Village.
Organizers here are also poised on creating livelihood projects -- like the establishment of a Cooperative Store in a form of a mini-grocery and the Botica ng Barangay where cheap medicines will be sold -- to provide a head start in basic and social services of the soon-to-be-community.
During a short program here, Governor Eddie Panlilio asked for the support of the local government in requesting Domingo Mapa, president of the Santos Ventura Focurma Foundation, to hand over the remaining 2.8-hectare land in Barangay Tabun for the extension of the GK housing project. A hundred houses have been built in the area.
Gawad Kalinga, which literally means "to give care," provides an alternative solution to the problem of poverty in the country. It envisions the Philippines to be a slum-free, squatter-free nation through a simple strategy of providing land for the landless, homes for the homeless, food for the hungry and in providing dignity and peace for every Filipino.
GK is now in the process of transforming poverty-stricken areas with the goal of building 700,000 homes in seven years (2003-2010) in the country, especially in Pampanga. To date, Gawad Kalinga is in over 900 communities all over the Philippines.
