The year 2018 may have ended in a sad note for thousands of families that were affected by Typhoon Usman, but the love and support from Filipinos around the world gave them relief and hope as they ushered in the new year from the evacuation centers.
 
As of January 7, over 5,000 families from affected areas in Mindoro, Camarines Sur, Albay, and Sorsogon received food packs and relief goods in the past week through ABS-CBN Lingkod Kapamilya Foundation Inc.’s (ALKFI) Operation Sagip following the typhoon and landslides that displaced them from their homes.
 
In a “TV Patrol” report, Tiwi, Albay resident Crisanta Dacir shared how her home was not able to withstand the rise of the river when the storm struck. The river also washed away also their belongings. Meanwhile, Camarines Sur resident Charilyn Gonzalez recounted how her home was buried by landslides which also claimed the lives of three of her children.
 
“Noong natabunan ang bahay namin, nandito ako sa baba. Humingi ako ng tulong noong nakita kong may liwanag sa taas. Ang hinahanap pa ngayon ang tatlo ko pang anak na namatay na talaga. (When the landslide struck, I went down with our house. I asked for help from people up on the hill but three of my children were already dead and are still being searched for),” said Charilyn.
 
Meanwhile, ALKFI continues to build projects to help rehabilitate provinces affected by Typhoon Yolanda. One of four legacy projects is a multi-purpose school building for Margen National High School in Ormoc City, which was inaugurated this December to serve as new classrooms for students and evacuation centers for residents in the area. The building also houses food service and hospitality training laboratories for senior high school students.
 
Among the students who will benefit from the new facilities is Julius Cabusas, a 17-year old eighth grader who works on weekends to support his education and dream of becoming a chef.
 
“Excited na ako pumasok dito. Kahit mas malayo ito sa bahay namin, dito ko piniling pumasok kasi mas madaming guro, at kumpleto ang mga gamit. (I’m excited to go to this school and finish my education. I chose to go to school here because the facilities are complete and we have more teachers),” said Julius.
Operation Sagip is the emergency humanitarian assistance program of ABS-CBN Lingkod Kapamilya Foundation, Inc. founded in 2004 that provides food and non-food relief to affected communities of disasters, as well as engage in rehabilitation and disaster risk reduction projects across the country.
 
To know more about Operation Sagip’s relief operations and other projects, visit www.abs-cbnfoundation.com or its Facebook page, www.facebook.com/abscbnfoundationkapamilya. For updates follow @abscbnpr on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram or go to www.abscbnpr.com.