Philippine Daily Inquirer/Feature/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo
MANILA, Philippines—It used to be called “kubeta” (toilet) village, the lair of akyat bahay burglars, sopas boys (pickpockets) and other criminal gangs that preyed on hapless citizens.
The place was “tapunan” (dumping ground) for corpses of victims of guns-for-hire. “Sumpak” (improvised shotgun), “pana” (arrow) and all types of crude deadly weapons reigned supreme.
Crime defined the place. And also poverty, disease, malnutrition.
That was more than 10 years ago, before Couples for Christ’s Gawad Kalinga (CFC-GK) built its first ever housing project for the poor in 1999, in Bagong Silang, Caloocan City.
Bagong Silang (newborn) was not as hopeful and bright as its name sounded when it first began as a relocation area. Some 2,000 poor families were dumped there in 1982 to get them out of sight during an international beauty pageant and an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting.
The place was a vast expanse dotted by countless holes on the ground where toilet bowls should be. That was as far as the government went. It didn’t take long for the place to come into its own as some kind of a ghetto, a fearsome no-man’s land, one of Metro Manila’s blighted areas.
GK tenet
Cesar Padilla, 49, was one of the first residents. “I was a Marcos loyalist at that time,” he laughs. Later, he became “tagahakot ni Erap” (crowd recruiter for former President Joseph Estrada). He clung to whoever had power and made promises.
And then GK came into his life and completely changed his outlook. Padilla is now the barangay chair of Bagong Silang, said to be the largest village in the country with a population of more than 200,000, according to the National Statistics Office.
Padilla is not a housing beneficiary of the GK’s project because, he says, quoting a GK tenet, it should be “una sa serbisyo, huli sa benepisyo” (first to serve, last to benefit). Following the GK Kapitbahayan principle, servant-leaders are the first to work and the last to leave. They are the last to receive their own homes.
(The homes are built free of charge. Sweat equity is required. Beneficiaries pay for the land but in small amounts over a long period.)
First-born
The Gawad Kalinga community in Bagong Silang is the GK’s first-born among its more than 2,000 communities in the Philippines. In Bagong Silang alone, 15 GK sites (more than 2,000 individual homes) have been built.
One of the GK’s founders, Antonio Meloto (a Ramon Magsaysay awardee for community leadership, along with the GK, and the Inquirer’s Filipino of the Year in 2006), came to the place more than a decade ago to find out what else he could do as a CFC member.
The GK has gone global but there is no denying that its first-born will always be special for Meloto. “My world used to revolve around Bagong Silang,” he says.
Ten years later, the first-born is still a place to marvel at, with its brightly painted homes and little plant boxes, a multipurpose hall, day-care center, open grounds for outdoor activities, name it. And more units are to be added. The 5,000 GK families are comfortably settled. But they are not cocooned. Reaching out to others is part of being community.
The GK in Bagong Silang is no longer only about physical structures. It is a way of life. Health, education, livelihood, good governance, good citizenship and community empowerment are integrated into this life. And the kids have grown up and, oh, they are all right.
A different ‘siga’
The original “pasaway” and “taga-gulo” (headaches) have become “tagapamayapa” (peacemakers). The old “siga” (toughies) are still SIGA (serving in God’s army) but in a different way. These young ones were snatched from the clutches of vices in the nick of time.
Jeena (not her real name), 30, is now a computer systems and office manager. She finished a course at the Asian College of Science and Technology.
“I used to be into drugs and alcohol. It was all ‘barkada’ (gang),” she said. Her parents joined the Christian Life program and soon Jeena joined the Youth for Christ Youth Camp.
Tonton, 26, was into many vices but came around when his father shed tears to convince him to change his ways. He is now a college graduate and a GK volunteer. He was one of the actors in the “Bagong Silang: The Musical.”
Santi, 27, has obtained his master in arts degree in nursing and is now teaching. “Having a barkada used to be protection for me,” he recalls. He, too, had used drugs.
Randy, 25, has finished a two-year course in hotel and restaurant management. He is now a volunteer at the GK national office’s culture and tourism desk. He was with 13 young people from Bagong Silang who went to Indonesia for volunteer work.
Planting the seeds
The GK has a program for those aged three to six. This year, more than 200 are enrolled in Sibol (which means sprout) in Bagong Silang. The CFC-GK’s couple Dale and Tess Lugue started Sibol years ago. Although living comfortable lives, they crossed over to the GK’s programs to work full-time and never looked back.
When the Philippine Daily Inquirer 0visited Bagong Silang recently, Dr. Eric Cayabyag, a GK volunteer doctor, was there to attend to patients. He first heard of the GK when he was a medical student. He did his rural service and segued into GK work.
But no two GK communities are alike.
The GK communities in Bagong Silang, which are in a crowded urban setting, are not like the ones in the Cordillera, where vegetables thrive, or in Mindanao’s “highways of peace.” The GK Selecta in Cainta, Rizal, is into urban farming.
‘Designer’ village
If Bagong Silang is the GK’s eldest, GK in Barangay Pinagsama in West Bicutan in Taguig City (near C-5) is among the youngest. Some call it a “designer” village.
The units are Mediterranean in style for their color and architecture. Each of the two-story homes has a 36-square-meter floor area. Known designers helped plan the interiors to maximize space.
Because of its proximity to the major cities in Metro Manila, the GK in Taguig has become a showcase, attracting foreign visitors, diplomats and young would-be volunteers who need lodging.
When the Inquirer visited Taguig, five volunteers—a Filipino, a French man and three young Australians—were busy doing their share in the community. They will also be doing work in other communities.
As its first-born turns 10, GK777—the GK catchword—comes closer to its goal of building 700,000 homes in 7,000 communities in seven years, or by 2010. More than 200,000 homes have been built in the Philippines and several Southeast Asian countries. The number grows by the day.
The GK has long gone global with its “global army against poverty.”
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