NEWSFLASH

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DAVAO SMOKEY MOUNTAIN SCAVENGERS GET HOMES

Davao City, Oct. 21, 1997 - Hundreds of families who recycle garbage for a living yesterday received from President Ramos their own new, modest, but decent homes away from the garbage dumps.

The president flew to Davao City yesterday to inaugurate the Kabayan Village, a socialized housing project in the Tibungco resettlement area for scavenger families. The village is patterned after the successful Smokey Mountain project in Tondo, Manila where residents organized themselves into a neighborhood association which coordinated all assistance from the government and NGOs.

"This is, indeed, a story worth telling," the president said. "It involved the national government, the NGOs and the people themselves working together to realize a dream -- the dream of the beneficiaries to own a decent home away from the dumpsite."

The president made available P2-million from his Social Fund to be used as a revolving fund for Kabayan association members who would like to apply for loans for livelihood purposes.

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