March 2016

On March 17, 2016, FP-UA, together with its NGO partner Habitat for Humanity Philippines, inaugurated the first house of a third village in the Municipality of Bogo, barangay Cayang.

This is the first unit of a 46-house village which will aslo include a multi-purpose center. The houses will boast the same hypar design as used on Site 1, barangay Agujo in Daanbantayan, which is conceived to resist up to 275 km/h winds and intensity 8 earthquakes. The colours chosen for the houses of this French village are the ones of the French flag.

The ceremony was attended by Mayor Martinez of Bogo City as well as the First Counselor, Mr. Laurent Le Godec, and representatives of the French Chamber and the contributing companies Cités-Unies France and Total Philippines Corporation.

After the ceremony, the delegation went to visit the first two sites in Daanbantayan that were inaugurated in November 2015; just two years after typhoon Haiyan. The beneficiary families have been settling in since then arranging the interior decoration of their new house and cultivating well-kept garden in front of their doors.

It was heatwarming to see these families, former victims of typhoon Haiyan, appropriating their new house and their new life.

After delivering its two first sites in November, the FP-UA Foundation, together with its partners and the Municipality of Bogo, will inaugurate the first houses of a third site in Bogo City on March 17.

Back in November 2013, Typhoon Haiyan devastated the Visayas and France-Philippines United Action was subsequently created in order to coordinate the relief and rehabilitation efforts lead by the French business community.

Two years after, on November 6 2015, two villages of a total of 202 sturdy homes were delivered to families in Daanbantayan.

Today, a third French village is taking shape in the municipality of Bogo in Northern Cebu. Part of the funds come from our partners Cités-Unies France and Total Philippines, but also from a donation announced by President Hollande and made to FP-UA during the business luncheon organized by the Makati Business Club on February 26, 2015.

Thanks to Habitat for Humanity Philippines, which is our implementing NGO partner, this village will include 46 houses as well as a multi-purpose center. In an effort to build resiliency against the effects of climate change, which was the aim of President Hollande’s visit to the Philippines, the structures are designed to resist up to 275-300 kilometer-per-hour winds. This, in fact, is the same Hyperbolic Paraboloid house model used on Site 1 in Daanbantayan. The beneficiary families will be communities living in precarious conditions in zones deemed dangerous during natural disasters.

We are looking for additional partners to contribute to this project as the multi-purpose center and the site development still need funding. If you are interested to become a partner of FP-UA on this project, please don’t hesitate to contact us at coordination@fpua.ph.