For several years, at least four villages of the quake-hit town of Sevilla remained without adequate water supply while some residents had to regularly walk for over a kilometer to fetch water for everyday use.
Sevilla, a fifth class municipality, struggled with securing a budget to address the issue, said Mayor Juliet Dano.
A large river runs across the town but pumping units and other equipment needed to divert water to homes remained unrepaired after being damaged by the 2013 earthquake, she said.
The local government unit of Sevilla continuously sought financing for the repairs but to no avail.
This was until New Year’s Day when a non-government organization called 1-2-3 Action Organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, took notice of the town’s plight.
According to Dano, the group donated a submersible pump and extended a fund to repair the reservoir that supplied water to four of the town’s barangays namely Cambagui, Lagtangan, Calinginan Norte and Calinginan Sur.
The NGO’s president Gregory Prenleloup along with ambassadors and ministers of San Marino S.E Madame France Majoie Le Lous and S.E Laurence Majoie who are also members of the country’s royal family led the turnover of donations on Wednesday.
They arrived on board helicopters in Sevilla for a short visit.
According to Dano, Sevilla was chosen as the first beneficiary of the 1-2-3 Action Organization after its president in the Philippines Marco Bocchi heard of the town’s longstanding problem on water supply through the radio.
The organization reviewed the water situation of the town prior to the official turnover of the donations, Dano said.
Meanwhile, the same group also donated a fund for the renovation of the Cambagui Elementary School and prepared a feast for residents of Sevilla wherein 20 pork lechon and 200 lechon manok were served.
Dano said that the organization is set to implement more projects in the town in the near future as noted by the group’s leaders and San Marino officials who also visited tourist destinations in Bohol including the Tarsier Sanctuary in Corella and Chocolate Hills in Carmen. (AD)