The office of Rep. Maria Carmen Zamora-Apsay turned over last June 12 to beneficiaries the three Gawad Kalinga houses at the GK SOP Kaihusahan Village in Barangay Osmeña, Compostela, Compostela Valley Province. The houses were constructed together public and private initiatives of the Gawad Kalinga project.
The happy beneficiaries were: Melanie Bayubay, a laundrywoman from Purok 5, Poblacion, Compostela who has seven children and a monthly salary of P2,000; Virginia Manambay whose husband, Virgilio, is a laborer, from Purok 3, Poblacion, Compostela. The couple have four children with a combined monthly salary of P5,200, and Ma. Elena Sidemo of Purok 9, Poblacion, Compostela, who has five children and subsists on a P60 per day salary as a baby sitter.
Melanie Bayubay said her family had been hoping for a house and lot of their own the past 20 years.
The Manambay couple, who had built a house on a land not their own prior to the award, said this was a new beginning for them, adding, “We hope that, by finally owning a house and lot and the opportunity to be involved in livelihood projects in the GK Village will make us economically self-sufficient.”
Sidemo said the GK unit will enable her five children and two grandchildren to live in a “real house” compared to the dwelling made of bamboo and canvas that they used to occupy.
Rep. Zamora-Apsay told the beneficiaries to strictly follow the rules and policies covering residents of the GK Village and make their new GK houses truly happy homes.
