It has not been long since Sylvestre and Lydia Yaguel
moved into their Habitat home in Pinugay, Rizal, but
their old way of life seems like worlds away.
The Yaguels were among the families affected by a
road widening project along Marcos Highway in 1998.
Barangay officials, through the representative of
Rizal Province, informed them that they could apply
for Habitat for Humanity Philippines’ housing
program. They heeded the advice and underwent the
non-profit organization’s screening process,
which chooses families based not only on their level
of need but also their ability to repay the loan and
their willingness to work in partnership with Habitat.
Fortunately, the Yaguels were chosen as one of the
homepartners in December 2000. They put up the initial
downpayment of one-third of the house cost, with Globe
Telecom sponsoring one-third, and funds from the international
Habitat community providing the rest.
Habitat houses are sold to homepartner families at
no profit. Homepartners repay through affordable,
zero-interest, inflation-adjusted mortgage loans.
These monthly mortgage payments are pooled into a
special fund so that the amortization of one house
will help build another. Homeowners also invest hundreds
of hours of their own labor or "sweat equity"
into building their Habitat house and the houses of
others. Volunteers from partner companies like Globe
Telecom, organizations, schools, youth groups, and
even foreign visitors, also help bring down the cost
of building Habitat homes.
With the help of their children, relatives, friends
and Habitat partners, the Yaguels’ house was
dedicated and turned over to them in January, 2001.
Now living in a house they could call their own,
Mang Sylvestre and Aling Lydia are even more inspired
to improve their lives. While their failing eyesight
has slowed their dressmaking business, they have opened
a sari-sari store in their Habitat community, earning
at least a net income of P200 per day. They also began
raising hogs nearby to augment their income.
Their five children have since married and moved
to their own houses elsewhere. A granddaughter lives
with them now and they are able to shoulder all of
the child’s school expenses.
They are even having their house renovated even while
continuing to pay for their monthly amortizations.
Habitat counts them as among the good-paying homepartners
in Pinugay. Their fellow homepartners also regard
the couple as good neighbors (“marunong makisama”).
Looking back, Mang Sylvestre beams with pride and
joy at how much his family’s life has changed
since owning a house: “Ayaw na naming balikan
ang panahon na wala kaming sariling bahay. Nakamit
namin ang aming pangarap dahil sa Habitat. Sobrang
saya ang nadarama ng pagkatapos ng paghihirap na binuo
namin ng halos dalawang linggo lang kasama ang mga
anak, kamag-anak, kaibigan, ay may bahay na kami,
sariling amin. Siyam na taon na lang, tapos na kami
sa pagbabayad.” (“We do not want to go
back to the time when we didn’t have our own
home. We were able to fulfill our dream because of
Habitat. We felt so much joy that after our hardships
in putting together the house in almost two weeks,
through the joint efforts of our children, relatives
and friends, we now have a house, and we can call
it our very own. In just nine years, we will have
completely paid for the house.”)
