PLDT-Smart advances disaster preparedness, resilience advocacy
The MVP Tulong Kapatid multipurpose and evacuation center is designed to withstand more than 250 kph winds.
The PLDT-Smart Foundation (PSF), with support from One Meralco Foundation and Ciena Communications, recently turned over the MVP Tulong Kapatid Multipurpose and Evacuation Center to the Archdiocese of Palo, Leyte—coinciding with the second anniversary of Pope Francis’ visit to the people of Leyte.
Designed to withstand more than 250 kph winds, the MVP Tulong Kapatid Multipurpose and Evacuation Center can accommodate 1,500 people in its spacious 1,200- square-meter interior space. The Center also serves as a venue for community gatherings and events.
PSF President Esther Santos underscored the importance of the Center.
“The MVP Tulong Kapatid Multipurpose and Evacuation Center creates a greater sense of community among the people of Palo. It is truly an embodiment of their resilience as they continue to rebuild their lives,” Santos said.
PSF, together with MVP Tulong Kapatid, the corporate social responsibility (CSR) consortium of the companies headed by PLDT-Smart CEO and Chair Manny V. Pangilinan, conducted a series of initiatives to provide assistance to the families affected by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan).
Making landfall on Nov. 8, 2013, Supertyphoon Yolanda was one of the world’s strongest typhoons with sustained winds of 235 kph and gusts of 275 kph.
Supertyphoon Yolanda wreaked havoc on Cebu, Samar and Leyte.
PSF’s participation in the long journey towards recovery began with relief operations in various areas severely affected by Supertyphoon Yolanda, with some 7,800 families in Cebu, Capiz, Samar, Leyte and Mindoro receiving relief goods, blankets and hygiene kits.
In partnership with the Salubong Movement, 50 families who sought refuge in Manila were given shelter kits consisting of corrugated sheets, plywood, nails and other carpentry tools.
To further alleviate the situation of the families, PSF also sponsored the return of the families to their respective hometowns in Leyte and Samar in partnership with DSWD-NCR, City Government of Pasay, and the National Anti-Poverty Commission.
Continuing its advocacy to provide quality education to the youth, PSF and PLDT’s Gabay Guro donated eight classrooms through DepEd’s Adopt-A-School Program. These classrooms were donated to Dr. A. P. Bañez Memorial Elementary School and Manlurip Elementary School in Tacloban and Pawing Elementary School in Palo, Leyte.
As part of its Yolanda Rehabilitation Program, PSF, in partnership with Banco De Oro Foundation and supported by Red Knee Solutions of Canada, donated a two-story, four-classroom building at Pis-anan National High School in Antique.
Enabling communities with livelihood opportunities, PSF, as a development sponsor assigned by the Office of the Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery (OPARR), turned over 50 fishing boats, one ecotourism boat and a community boat to Capiz. Ten fishing boats were also turned over to a community in Isabel, Ormoc through the help of Rep. Lucy Torres-Gomez.
In 2014, PSF, in partnership with Caritas Manila, staged a benefit concert entitled, “RISE! Rebuilding from the Ruins,” which showcased the religious works of Maestro Ryan Cayabyab.
The concert aimed to raise funds for the reconstruction of chapels that were destroyed by Supertyphoon Yolanda. Five out of the 20 chapels in the project, were donated by PLDT, Smart, PSF and Pangilinan, who also chairs PSF.
