Over 3,000 residents in Calapan, Oriental Mindoro whose livelihood were affected by the oil spill received food packs from the GMA Kapuso Foundation during the Holy Week.
According to a “24 Oras” report on Friday, four barangays in Calapan have received aid.
Joey de Castro, a fisherman, could not set sail due to the oil spill from the sunken tanker MT Princess Empress.
Following the incident, his children and grandchildren have to deal with rice and dried fish each day.
“Hindi ko po kayang tingnan ‘yung mga anak ko na hindi makakain nang tatlong beses maghapon dahil sa dumating naming sakuna, ‘yung oil spill na ‘yan,” said de Castro.
(I could not bear to see my children not eating three times a day due to the disaster brought by the oil spill.)
What made his situation worse was that one of his children stopped going to school.
“‘Yun nga po ang ikinalulungkot ko. Kung wala kaming hanabuhay mapapatigil ang aming anak sa pag-aaral dahil sa kahirapan ng buhay,”
(That’s what I’m sad about. If we do not have livelihood, our children would stop going to school due to poverty.)
Despite his situation, De Castro showed his helpfulness to other people by assisting in making improvised oil spill boom.
For those who want to help more people in need, the GMA Kapuso Foundation accepts donations through bank deposits, Cebuana Lhuillier, GCash, Shopee, PayMaya, Zalora, MegaMart, Globe Rewards, Metrobank credit card, and Lazada.
For more information, visit the GMA Kapuso Foundation website.—Jamil Santos/LDF, GMA Integrated News
