POPE FRANCIS VILLAGE

The Eastern Visayas State University has been an active partner of Pope Francis for Resilient and Co-Empowered Sustainable Communities (FRANCESCO) in the establishment of Pope Francis Village Model Community.  As the university continues to advance its extension program, FRANCESCO's collaboration with the College of Architecture and Allied Discipline  (CAAD) has gained positive reception as proven by  the sustained number of student volunteers presently deployed at the PFV Site.  Under the supervision of two architects from the Technical Assistance Movement for People and Environment, Inc. (TAMPEI), three architecture graduates and seven undergraduate students are now rendering a one-month volunteer work at the PFV Site. They were mobilized to assist in the development of miniature house design prototypes and 3 dimensional site development model that were all drawn from the series of workshops with members of Pope Francis Village last year.  Their o...

The belief in the supernatural is very prominent in the Filipino culture. Performing some house cleansing rituals come into play when, people are building houses or moving to a new house. Generally people do these to ward off evil spirits and other mystical entities. As a show of respect to traditional practices of Taclobanons, I have documented a seasoned ritual called “Padugo” or offering blood of an animal as a form of sacrifice at Pope Francis Village yesterday. The ritual was performed during the pre-concrete pouring for foundations of the first batch of rowhouse units.. It involves slitting of the throat of three white chickens and dripping the blood to the excavated holes before actual pouring of cement. This was performed by a folk healer who happened to be one of the community members of Pope Francis Village. According to traditional beliefs, this practice of taking the life of a sacrificed animal will prevent the evil forces from taking the life of workers or anyone conne...

Seeing this heterogeneous cluster of savers eagerly handing-over a Php20.00 individual savings contribution to their cluster leaders is a testament that poor disaster survivors have inherent capacity to mobilize their own resources, if driven by a certain purpose. Savings member brings their individual passbook which serves  as a proof of their weekly savings contribution.  This group is one of the seven (7) savings clusters of Magallanes Survivors Homeowner’s Association (MSHOA) that was organized by Urban Poor Associates (UPA) in early February of 2014. The cluster meets every Sunday for their weekly meeting and savings mobilization activity. For this savings cluster, the minimum individual savings contribution is Php20.00 The Bayanihan Savings Program is both an organizing tool and a strategy of UPA in preparing Typhoon Yolanda survivors in transitional shelters and in areas currently covered by No-Build Zone to  become self-sustaining while wai...

Veering away from business as usual arrangements, persistent negotiations, maximizing local and national linkages and overcoming uncertainties- all these have unpacked promising accomplishments for Pope Francis Village. It's been eight months of continuous lobbying and engagement with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). Now, key stakeholders of Pope Francis Village most especially the communities who will benefit from this permanent in-city resettlement initiative are taking pride of their inroads in securing DPWH support for land development. The funding commitment of DPWH based on the approved contract estimate amounted to Php103,937,000.00. This will  cover earth-moving, construction of roadways and slope protection structures at PFV Project Site located at Barangay 99, Diit, Tacloban City. The winning bidder  was EZ Jones Construction, Inc. (ECI),  a reputable and ISO certified contractor operating in the Provinces of Samar and Leyte.  ...

  The construction of the two-storey, six-classroom building at Scandinavian Elementary School in Barangay 100 San Roque, Tacloban City is one of the strategic rehabilitation assistance of Alberta School Board to children of Typhoon Yolanda survivors in partnership with Pope Francis for Resilient and Co-Empowered Sustainable Communities (FRANCESCO). The building has robust and structurally-sound features purposely designed to accommodate around 300 additional school children especially those who will be coming from Pope Francis Village. It could also serve as an evacuation building in times of emergencies and disasters. Proposed architectural design of Pope Francis School Building Project Unlike most traditional contractor-led construction practice, the Pope Francis School Building Project puts premium on integrated and people-driven approach to construction management. Here, partner communities and other relevant stakeholders are assuming a more active role in various a...

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....

Ignorance of science is absolutely a peril to development. This was a buzzword from Dr. Kelvin S. Rodolfo, an Earth and Environmental Scientist who spoke in a forum organized by the Urban Poor Associates this morning regarding the impacts of the proposed 27.3 kilometers embankment project to be built from Tacloban City to Palo and Tanauan, Leyte. Having extensively worked on the field of geological sciences, disaster risks reduction and climate change studies, his technical inputs uncovered many unforeseen impacts of the tide embankment as the  engineering works take-off. In his lectures, he presented several cases of ground movements and observable environmental hazards associated with poorly planned protective infrastructure projects.  He emphasized  that any planned development that entails alteration of the existing ecosystem and massive displacement of communities should be science-informed, otherwise these will only create more disasters. Dr.Kelvin Rodolfo ...