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Building Permit for Three Row House Designs Approved for Pope Francis Village

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After almost two months of persistent negotiations and lobby work with Tacloban City Housing Office and engineering department, building officials finally approved and released the building permit for 3 row house designs of FRANCESCO’s integrated and people-driven in-city relocation project. This is an important milestone for communities who played a compelling role in several dialogues with city authorities for the purpose of securing exemptions from building permit fees  and other related charges.  Approved row-house designs for Pope Francis Village; Photo credit: FRANCESCO, Inc.  “I feel relieved that we now have a full grip of our building permit. This is like a step closer to getting a house that we can claim our own”, says Yolanda Sembrero, one of the frontline leaders involved in building permit processing. Mrs. Sembrero also recounted a few challenges and takeaways that they have experienced in dealing with the LGU. They were initially apprised...
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A Peso and a Quantum Leap for the Caterpillars

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Pope Francis Village carries the byword of community participation from its inception to site development planning, house designing to actual building of houses. This archetype of participatory approach became more prominent when the 550 families decided to come together, regardless of their varying socio-economic backgrounds and origins to form a unified Homeowners Association. It was further demonstrated during the determination of criteria and process for block and lot assignments of individual families. Some would say, the approach is full of dynamism as members engage themselves in a healthy form of contestation, co-optation or cooperation until they arrive at a consensus with the rest of their block members.   The same approach again served as an overarching backdrop of the recent election of block leaders. In a series of cluster assemblies spearheaded by the social team, community members were asked to craft and level-off on the criteria for choosing their leaders per...
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Community Enlivens Bayanihan Spirit

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Bayanihan or the outpouring cooperative spirit of Filipinos is traditionally exemplified when communities extend service to those in need without expecting anything in return. This is vividly captured in simple acts like lending a hand to someone carrying a heavy load,  helping an elderly cross the street or extending material or financial assistance to families affected by catastrophic events or disasters.  Even typhoon Yolanda survivors have their own ways of keeping the Bayanihan tradition alive. Community volunteers usually form part of additional workforce at Pope Francis Village. As members of the construction team, their volunteer service becomes their counterpart for the resettlement project.  Women volunteers assist in hauling of earth filling materials for the ongoing School Building construction. Amidst the sun's blazing heat, these volunteers worked all day as the school building project now gears up for the preparation of second floor slab....
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