New PRC branch building to rise in Bogo, Cebu

 

A new building that will house the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) Cebu Chapter-Bogo Branch will soon rise within the New City Hall Compound in Bogo City, Cebu.

 

The branch building will be built on a 1,000 square meters of lot in the aforementioned site which was donated to the PRC last year by the municipality of Bogo, under the administration of then Mayor Celestino Martinez.

 

Senator Richard Gordon, who is concurrent chairman and CEO of the PRC, will lead the groundbreaking ceremony and laying of time capsule in the site where the new building will rise. A memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the PRC and the municipality of Bogo will also be signed by both parties during the event with respect to the use of land by the PRC good for 50 years.

 

“The establishment of a branch in Bogo City will further bring Philippine Red Cross services nearer and more accessible to people in the northern part of Cebu. People from Bogo and neighboring municipalities will not have to go far to access Red Cross services like blood as the new building will have a blood collecting station,” said Senator Gordon.

 

The groundbreaking ceremony and MOU signing will likewise be graced by municipality of Bogo officials led by Mayor Carlo Martinez and Vice Mayor Maria Cielo Martinez, with former Bogo City Mayor Celestino Martinez.

 

Funding for the construction of the building will come from the PRC Haiyan Recovery Operation, with the support from partner national societies in the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

 

The move to establish a PRC branch in Bogo was strongly supported by the community which sees the need for the Red Cross to continue its presence in the communities it assisted in the aftermath of typhoon Yolanda (international name Haiyan).

 

The Philippine Red Cross has assisted thousands of families in the province of Cebu as part of the Haiyan Recovery Operation. To date, 8,020 shelters have been built and reconstructed, and some 8,354 families have been given livelihood assistance in the municipalities of Bantayan, Daanbantayan, Madridejos, San Remigio and Bogo City.

There are also 12 health facilities that have been constructed and rehabilitated in Bogo, Daanbantayan, San Remigio and Tabuelan; while 8 water, sanitation and hygiene facilities have been constructed and rehabilitated in schools in Daanbantayan, Bogo and San Remigio.