With most sections of the country still mired in poverty, the Iglesia ni Cristo through the Felix Y. Manalo Foundation, has stepped up efforts to assist the less fortunate—particularly indigenous peoples and communities lacking in economic opportunities.
“The Iglesia wants residents in local communities, INC members or not, to fight and eradicate poverty,” explained Glicerio Santos, INC’s general auditor.
“It’s the church’s way of showing we should provide succor and concrete assistance to the least of our brethren,” said Santos.
Apart from enriching the lives of people through spirituality, the INC has been actively engaging members and non-members alike in various livelihood and assistance programs in needy areas throughout Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
A Nov. 8, 2015 launching of INC’s self-sustaining “eco-community” in Barangay Bakal, Paracale, Camarines Norte was the church’s immediate follow-up to the “EVM Self-Sustainable Eco-farming Community” in Alangalang, Leyte launched earlier this year. The Visayas project was made in response to clamor for livelihood for local residents in the aftermath of Typhoon “Yolanda”, which struck the province in November 2013.
The Paracale project involves a 100-hectare site for the Kabihug indigenous peoples, and benefited 300 households.
The EVM community in the Visayas, meanwhile, is a 3,000-hectare property meant to shelter and sustain Yolanda victims. The site has its own agriculture facilities, such as tractors and other essential farm implements needed to bring residents up to speed in their economic recovery.
INC has established 10 such self-sustaining communities all over the country. The first one was built in 1965 in Nueva Ecija.
Mindanao has benefited from eco-farming projects in Agusan del Sur and Lanao del Norte. The Agusan location helps sustain 3,000 families.
Other INC-initiated eco-farming sites are located in San Miguel, Bulacan, Pinugay and Tanay in Rizal and in Naic, Cavite. There is also a “mushroom house” inside the main campus of the New Era University in Quezon City, where most of the workers come from Yolanda-affected areas in Leyte.
Beneficiaries have expressed gratitude for the INC’s efforts. Sainma Romeric, a resident of the Lanao livelihood community, said that “in a span of one year, since we started in this area, we maintain a steady income. We are able to send our children to school and we have food on the table.”
Santos said the success of these communities have encouraged the INC to continue the projects in other areas.
“We are planning other eco-farming areas. The success of our current projects has inspired us to do more. We see this as part of our obligation as Christians to help our communities,” said Santos.
