Covid-19 pandemic revives bayanihan spirit in Candaba

CANDABA— The Municipal government of Candaba has seen the revival of bayanihan spirit among its residents during the height of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

In an interview, Vice Mayor Michael Sagum said they have experienced it in their municipality through private families and individuals who helped their less fortunate fellow during the enhanced community quarantine.

“When we distributed the first tranche of the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) given by the national government, we know that the amount downloaded will not be enough to reach out to all our constituents who are in need. So we thought of a program that will help raise funds by soliciting the help of our more fortunate Candabeños and it is called Adopt-a-Family,” Sagum said.

The vice mayor said that under the program, a private individual or family who would like to adopt a family donates PhP6,000 to be given to indigent families who were not included as SAP beneficiaries.

“We are overwhelmed because many responded to our call. That is one of the things we are thankful for to our constituents that even though they are personally experiencing the pandemic, they still helped because of our mayor's call to help each other,” Sagum said.

The local official said the mayor and himself donated their one-month salary, while all the municipal councilors and department heads gave a portion of their salaries for this cause.

In addition, there are private individuals who adopted as many as five families.