Group vows to help ‘until it hurts’

SOME of the boats that had been donated to fishermen in Panay town in Capiz province have been painted blue. The group that donated the boats believes that giving back the fishermen’s capacity to fish is far better than giving them canned goods, rice and other food stuff in relief packages. CARLOS ARNALDO/CONTRIBUTOR

Yolanda Ploor was shocked by the havoc her namesake brought on an island village in Panay town, Capiz province, when she and a band of volunteers arrived there on Jan. 29.

The American was in the Philippines to relinquish eight blue boats to Barangay Butacal, joining a charity network led by a group of Ateneo de Manila University alumni who vowed to help “until it hurts.”

Supertyphoon “Yolanda” sent 6-meter storm surges to the island on Nov. 8, 2013, ruining hundreds of fishing boats docked at the shoreline. The seawater also submerged rice fields and killed livestock and crops.

The disaster prompted a group of Ateneans, called Grupo 58, to repurpose a relief fund for less fortunate batch mates to help the Visayas. They also tapped donors and volunteers from religious communities, Gawad Kalinga-Capiz and Manila-based Salt and  Light Catholic Charismatic Community, among others.

Grupo 58 comprises Ateneo’s grade school Batch ’54, high school Batch ’58 and tertiary Batch ’62.

“The initiative brought us closer to one another,” Carlos Arnaldo, one of the members, said.

People for others

Danilo Olivares, who initiated the transition, said the typhoon made the group realize that the “others” in Ateneo’s creed of “men and women for others” was more than themselves. Members sent in money and solicited from third-party groups.

“We will not go to Tacloban,” he recalled, referring to the calamity’s ground zero in Leyte province. “There are many relief efforts there already … . I want to go where people cannot go, places they will not think of helping.”

Four days after the storm, Olivares was in northern Cebu province, leading volunteers in packing corn grit, rice and noodles. He and grade school classmate Ed Misa held a caravan across the area to deliver more than 3,000 relief packs.

On Nov. 21, he and classmate Tony Ortiz moved to far-flung areas in Capiz province to distribute 4,000 packs.

When they reached Butacal for the first time on Nov. 23, Olivares said: “It was like Samar. Rice fields were inundated with salt water. I saw fallen coconut and mango trees. Fishing boats were damaged.”

“There was no more agriculture, no more fisheries,” he said. The storm surge carried debris 2 kilometers inland, onto rice lands. Eighty percent of the boats were destroyed, the rest damaged.

Panay town lost P141 million in agriculture and P189.9 million in fishing, registering the highest losses in those sectors in Capiz. It takes more than an hour by boat to reach Butacal.

After the relief sortie there, Olivares committed to head back to bring long-term solutions.

Relief to rehab

“When I saw the problem of livelihood, I said, ‘Enough with the relief efforts. Let’s do livelihood rehabilitation,’” Olivares said.

Targeting fisheries first, Grupo 58 took eight salvageable hulls to Roxas City, the provincial capital, to be used for  brand-new boats.

“If you have a boat now, you can go out and fish. You can harvest immediately,” Olivares said. “Rice needs a couple of months, coconuts and mangoes take years.”

“It was a tall order,” he recalled. “We didn’t have that kind of money.” Add to that, the volatile prices of materials, with 6-m boats costing P44,000—P14,000 more than expected.

Ploor came with husband David. They were joined  by Grupo member Deacon Leandro Centenera to represent the Prince of Peace church in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The group pledged 15 boats, seven of which were distributed on Jan. 29. Last week, Grupo gave three more, getting closer to their 40-60 target. Two made of fiber glass were funded by Prince of Peace.

“We will help you. The boats are free,” Olivares recalled telling the people of Butacal. “But you have to help yourselves. Pay forward.”

Every end of the month from February, each of the boat owners will contribute P500 to a fund to buy more boats. Grupo’s Domingo Guevara Jr. will supervise this through his Radiowealth Finance team.

“It’s different when they are working for the boats. They feel more responsible,” Arnaldo said.

Enduring, effective

Grupo 58 started “the wrong way,” said Arnaldo. “We were crazy guys.”

“We are just making up for our mistakes,” Olivares added, saying Grupo is making sure the project is enduring and effective.

“If you plan to help, you should make it right all the way,” he said. “Others are scurrying to help but keep on giving band-aid solutions.”

“Keep it focused, small … . Work closely with classmates, friends and local groups … . Build for long-term viability,” Arnaldo added.

Grupo plans to build a plant in Roxas to manufacture fiber glass boats for affected areas in the Visayas. It commissioned a team in Batangas province to provide a mold for 7.2-m boats that will be safe for deep-sea fishing. The makers in Taguig City have only a 5.4-m mold.

Agricultural projects are coming up, with Grupo ironing out details with the agriculture department to provide fertilizers and crops that can grow on saline soil.

“Just because 100 days have passed doesn’t mean we should forget,” Olivares said. “People are still lining up for food, people are still in makeshift shelters.”

“We want to keep alive the problem of Yolanda,” he added.

During the awarding program, the barangay treasurer of Butacal handed a replica of the blue boats to Grupo 58. This is with Ploor and the religious community in the United States now, helping the community reel in more donations.

It is helping Grupo fulfill its promise, which Olivares said: “We should help until it hurts.”