Rebuilding Marawi through relevant partnerships | GMANetwork.com - Foundation - Articles

GMA Kapuso Foundation (GMAKF) and the Emergency Architects of the United Architects of the Philippines (UAP-EA) forged a partnership to build a space saving, well lighted and ventilated school in the heart of Marawi City.

Rebuilding Marawi through relevant partnerships

April 17 2018

 

(From left) UAP-EA Deputy Chair Jose Miranda, UAP-EA Chairperson Stephanie Gilles, GMAKF EVP/COO Rikki Escudero-Catibog, UAP Outgoing President Guillermo Hisancha, and UAP Incoming President Benjamin Panganiban.

Recognizing the urgency to respond to the dire needs of Filipino children displaced in the Marawi siege in Lanao Del Sur which ended last October 2017, GMA Kapuso Foundation (GMAKF) and the Emergency Architects of the United Architects of the Philippines (UAP-EA) forged a partnership to build a space saving, well lighted and ventilated school in the heart of Marawi City.

GMAKF and UAP-EA signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) last April 14, 2018 at the SMX Convention Center to rehabilitate the Datu Saber Elementary School in Barangay Saber, Marawi City. Standing on 300 square meters, the old Datu Saber School has 4 small classrooms that accommodate 450 students. This number is expected to swell when more displaced families return and re-enroll their children.  The said school is well known in Marawi City because despite its cramped space, its students garnered high scores in consecutive National Aptitude Tests.

The UAP-EA is made up of an elite group of architects whose specialty and interest lies in designing post disaster risk resilient construction, emergency structures and site planning. The group was specifically tapped to respond to the unique challenges posed by the limited land area of Datu Saber Elementary School.

Datu Saber is only one of three (3) schools in Marawi City which GMA Kapuso Foundation will be helping. The other beneficiaries of GMAKF’s rebuild and rehab plan in Marawi City are Pendolonan and Camp Bagong Amai Pakpak Elementary Schools.

Signing on behalf of GMA Kapuso Foundation was Rikki Escudero-Catibog, GMAKF EVP and COO. Signing for the UAP were outgoing National President Guillermo H. Hisancha and incoming National President Benjamin Panganiban. For the UAP-EA, Chairperson Marie Stephanie Gilles and Deputy Chairman Jose Miranda were the signatories. UAP Ways and Means Committee Chair Dante Aguirre was also on hand to witness the MOA signing as well as to get started on fundraising among its construction supply sponsors and partners.

“We need more donations to come in to help fund the Rebuild Marawi Project. So many children in Marawi need better schools” said Escudero-Catibog of GMAKF.

“People come to us to ask for help and we never turned a blind eye or deaf ears. We believe that each plea is a golden opportunity to help,” Marie Stephanie Gilles, UAP-EA Chairperson shared.

For donations to the Rebuild Marawi Project, you may visit the GMAKF Office, 2nd Floor GMA

Kapuso Center, GMA Network Drive cor. Samar Street in Quezon City. You may also deposit your donations in GMAKF bank accounts in Metrobank, BDO, PNB and UCPB. For more inquiries, you may contact GMAKF at gmaf@gmanetwork.com or (02) 928-9351/928-4299.

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