■ LANDBANK PROVIDES WATER FILTRATION SYSTEMS TO 4 BARANGAYS IN LEYTE

Residents of four barangays in Ormoc City are recipients of Landbank’s Gawad Katubigan, or Kakibat na Tulong sa Bayan sa Inuming Kailangan.

Residents from four barangays in Ormoc City were given access to clean drinking water through Landbank’s Gawad Katubigan, or Kakibat na Tulong sa Bayan sa Inumung Kailangan) program.

The bank turned over 60 water filtration systems to community leaders and health workers in Barangays Lake Danao, Gaas, Milagros, and Kabaunan, which were among those badly hit by a 5.4-magnitude earthquake that jolted Ormoc City on July 10, 2017.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said the tremor was an aftershock from the 6.5-magnitude earthquake, which hit Jaro, Leyte a few days earlier.

Implemented in partnership with US-based non-government organization Waves for Water (W4W), Gawad Katubigan is a corporate social responsibility program of Landbank that aims to provide water filtration systems to disaster-stricken and disaster-prone communities or those with limited access to clean drinking water.

“Gawad Katubigan is the bank’s way of reaching out to more Filipinos in remote areas who do not have access or have limited access to potable water,” said Delma Bandiola, Landbank East Visayas group head/vice president, who led the turnover of the water filtration kits.

Apart from the four barangays, the Landbank also provided water filtration systems to the remote Barangay of Liberty, also in Leyte, which has limited access to potable water.

Accredited by the Department of Health, the water filters can remove up to 99.9 percent of bacteria that cause water-borne diseases, such as cholera, salmo- nella, and E. coli, among others. Each filtration system can filter one million gallons of water and provide clean drinking water for 100 people a day. The filters can last for five to 10 years, if properly maintained.

As of December 2017, Landbank distributed a total of 956 filtration systems, which can benefit up to 95,600 individuals from 48 municipalities/cities across the country.

In 2016, Gawad Katubigan won for Landbank the “most socially responsible bank” award from London-based International Finance Magazine.

CONTRIBUTED FOTO TURNOVER. The donors, together with the beneficiaries, pose for a group picture during the turnover ceremony. Present during the ceremony were Ormoc City Councilor Gregorio Yrastorza III, Landbank East Visayas group head/vice president Delma Bandiola,...