Village finds a ‘brother’ in Malaysian billionaire

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—For some 100 urban poor families here, life after Tropical Storm “Sendong” begins at the end of an uphill road that snakes past the city public cemetery in Sitio Bolonsiri in Barangay Camaman-an—the same cemetery where 250 unidentified victims of the storm lie in a mass grave—into a community housing project built through the kindness of a foreigner.
Thirty-six year old Romelyn Datahan said she used to think there would be no end to the cycle of sleeping on cold concrete floors in covered courts crammed with evacuees like her, each time rain causes the Cagayan River to breach its banks as it did in December 2011, killing over 1,500 people in riverside communities all over the city.
During heavy downpour, Datahan said she, husband Julius, and their six children would frantically gather their belongings and flee to safer grounds, leaving their home at the mercy of rampaging floodwaters.
“Not anymore,” Datahan said as she sat with neighbors outside a row of gaily painted homes in Berjaya-Gawad Kalinga village in Barangay Camaman-an. They were waiting to meet the benefactor who helped change their lives.
Like the other homeowners, Datahan wore a white shirt with the words “Thank You” in bold, black letters.
Those were for Malaysian Tan Sri Dato Seri Vincent Tan, founder of the Berjaya Group of Companies.
Berjaya is one of Malaysia’s largest conglomerates with business interests in various key industries around the world.
In the Philippines, the Berjaya Group has been in business for 18 years, holding majority control in several businesses such as Papa John’s Pizza, LoadCentral, Friendster Philippines, Berjaya Hotel, and Berjaya Auto Philippines, the Philippine distributor of Mazda.
Tan, one of the 10 richest men in Malaysia, flew to this city recently to witness the turnover of a road concreting and drainage project by the government in a village he helped build together with Gawad Kalinga.
Speaking to residents later in the day, Tan said he was in London when he saw newsreels of the aftermath of Sendong.
Moved by the suffering, Tan said he immediately called Berjaya Philippines country head Paul Soo to see what can be done.
That phone call eventually led to a partnership with GK that was formalized during the GK Bayanihan Expo held at the SMX Arena in October 2012.
Tan personally handed over a check worth P100 million to GK founder and chair Tony Meloto.
The P100 million was the first installment of a total donation of P300 million. Berjaya also donated P1.1 million to the relief efforts for the victims of the 2013 Bohol earthquake and the victims of Supertyphoon “Yolanda.”
“It is important that when we invest in a country, we must be a good corporate citizen,” Tan said, explaining his philosophy.
“We just don’t come, do business, make money, send back dividends. We must invest in the country,” Tan added.
“We must create jobs and we must help the less fortunate and victims of natural disasters,” he said.
From the seeds planted in 2012, a successful partnership between Berjaya and GK has emerged to benefit close to a thousand families across the country, mostly in areas devastated by natural calamities.
To date, Berjaya and GK have sponsored homes in the following areas: Cagayan de Oro (200 units); Compostela Valley (100 units); Lantawan, Basilan (30 units); Trece Martires, Cavite (30 units); Los Amigos, Davao City (30 units); Kitcharao, Agusan del Norte (30 units); Mobo, Masbate (30 units); Malitbog, Southern Leyte (30 units); Sapad, Lanao del Norte (30 units); Sumilao, Bukidnon (30 units); Esperanza, Sultan Kudarat (30 units); Del Carmen, Surigao del Norte (30 units); Cagayan de Oro-Escriva (100 units); San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan (100 units) and Bohol (100 units).
Tan said Berjaya was looking at building more houses with GK in Yolanda-devastated areas in Central Visayas.
Tan said he was drawn to building shelters as decent homes help build dignity in the people that come to own them. Freeing the less fortunate from the expenses of building decent homes also allows them greater economic participation.
Commenting on Berjaya’s corporate social responsibility initiatives, Barjaya country head Paul Soo said he was elated by how significant the housing projects in Cagayan de Oro had been changing the lives and uplifting the community spirit of the families.
“Given the challenges of poverty and natural disasters that still and will confront us in the future, we remain true to our original mission and purpose, that is to step up our role in making major contributions to help build a more self-sustaining and inclusive Philippine community,” Soo said.
Speaking on behalf of Gawad Kalinga, GK executive director Jose Luis Oquinena said Berjaya’s support had enabled GK to help empower the poorest of the poor in the country.
“We are thankful to the Berjaya Group for sharing and realizing our mutual vision to alleviate poverty,” Oquinena said.
For Datahan, Tan is no longer a stranger to her family and the rest of the residents of the village.
“Like a brother,” Datahan said of the Malaysian.