From the Business Mirror (Jan 6): AFP donates P300,000 to Sagip Kapamilya
THE Armed Forces turned over on Monday more than P300,000 in cash donations that was raised through various charity projects facilitated by the Armed Forces of the Philippines’s (AFP) Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom).
The total amount was handed over to the Sagip Kapamilya Foundation through Tina Monzon-Palma in a ceremony held at Camp Aguinaldo.
The series of fund-raising projects began after the attack on Zamboanga City last September, with the first project being the crafting of furniture out of trees that were uprooted by Typhoon Santi.
Hundreds of uprooted trees ranging from decades-old acacia and mahogany, and other trees like gemelina, were gathered and crafted into dining sets, TV racks, cabinets and other furniture by soldiers of the Nolcom.
The auction of the items was held on December 16 and was met with enthusiasm from the local folks.
Even before the actual selling, all the furniture sets were reserved and sold due to the overwhelming support of the people and different stakeholders who want to help Zamboanga, victims of the Bohol earthquake and Typhoon Yolanda in Samar and Leyte.
A Golf for a Cause and Firing Tournament was also held on December 18. The two tournaments were attended mostly by military personnel and businessmen from Central and Northern Luzon and the National Capital Region, who committed their support for the fund-raising projects for calamity victims.
The Enduro Challenge and Battle of the Bands concert for a cause was held on December 20, which was participated in by different local bands who pledged support for the fund-raising activity.
Sagip Kapamilya was chosen due to the stable partnership of the AFP and ABS-CBN Sagip Kapamilya Foundation and the long list of joint projects that were undertaken by the two, including school-building.
The partnership on school-building projects was started in 2011 with the then-AFP National Development Support Command and Sagip Kapamilya.
The first school constructed under the partnership was the two-classroom school building at Barangay Yunot, Bulalacao, Oriental Mindoro, which benefitted the Hanunuo Tribe.
In 2011 alone, Sagip Kapamilya in partnership with the AFP, constructed a total of 124 classrooms nationwide including the 50 classrooms in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan which were constructed after Typhoon Sendong.
In 2012 a total of 86 more classrooms nationwide were constructed under this partnership.