ANGAT VICTORIAS: The Blessing of our Angat Victorias Banca

After our ANGAT VICTORIAS banca was completed (read blog here), we asked the help of the staff of the Parish of St. Roch in Daan Banwa, Victorias City, whether Fr. Christopher Entrata, parish priest, could bless the banca.🚢

On the sunny morning of August 31, 2022, the completed blue banca (color choice by carpenter Nonoy) was brought to the southern side of the Malihaw River where we gathered for the blessing. 

Along with Fr. Entrata's blessing, we prayed that the boatmen and his passengers will always have a safe passage across the Malihaw River each day and night.

The whole banca project took us a little more than a month. It was July 29, 2022, Friday, when we chanced upon Justin on the Malihaw River, and on that day, we asked the riverside restaurant owner to help us find a banca carpenter.

Finally, on August 31, 2022, Wednesday, the banca was blessed and was turned over to Walter, the boatman.

This photo is my favorite as it clearly shows the colors of the day: the pink ANGAT VICTORIAS tarpaulin, red/yellow/green/blue of the beach umbrella, the dark blue banca, the clear blue skies (let's exclude the murky waters!) all portend the happiness our little banca would bring to its passengers who will ride it, as well as the financial help it will bring to the family of Walter who will use it during the week, and to the family of Justin who will use it during weekends and when he is off from school.😊

We, the ANGAT VICTORIAS volunteers, endeavor to help our fellow Victoriahanon in our own little way. 😊

#AngatVictorias #AngatBuhayLahat #AngatBuhay #DaanBanwa #volunteerism #boats #banca 

ANGAT VICTORIAS: Our Banca For The Daan Banwa Community

In Victorias City,  Negros Occidental in the Philippines, the Malihaw River separates two of its barangays, 6A (Villa Miranda) and 9 (Daan Banwa) The latter is closer to the public transport terminal, a mall, and the fruit and vegetable market.

Instead of taking the longer route, the residents of Barangay 6A take the banca ride to cross the river, and the crossing only takes a couple of minutes.

Each passenger pays P5 for the crossing, and the boat men earn a living by using the banca to ferry passengers. During classes, students would prefer crossing the river instead of taking the longer route to school.

One day, as we visited Daan Banwa to have snacks at a restaurant near the bank of the Malihaw River, I watched a kid take a banca to cross to our side. He then took passengers and ferried them to the other side. I thought his family owned the boat.

But after talking to the kid and to the owner of the restaurant, we found out that the kid, Justin, only 15 years old, borrows the banca and pays P50 to the owner as rent. 

Justin then ferries people across the river. His earnings would help his mother, a laundry woman raising nine kids on her own. 

We asked the restaurant owner to help us find a carpenter to build us a banca that he kid could use when he's off from school.  

Nonong, a 54-year old carpenter who builds banca for a living, would build our ANGAT VICTORIAS banca that will be blessed by our parish priest once it is ready for use.

We, the ANGAT VICTORIAS volunteers, endeavor to help our fellow Victoriahanon in our own little way.😊

#AngatVictorias #AngatBuhay #banca #boats #Daan Banwa #volunteerism

ANGAT VICTORIAS: Waiting Shed for Tricycle Drivers

In front of the Victorias City's public plaza, there's a new terminal for the local tricycles. Rain or shine, they await passengers that get off from buses coming from the north.

One more, I asked the tricycle drivers whether they needed a shed, and they said that they would be happy if someone could donate one for them.

So, off I went to the upholstery shop with one of the drivers and bought them the size that would be big enough to cover their corner.

After securing the 'trapal', I called a friend to ask whether he could spare me some bamboo poles to hold the shed.

The generous friend gladly gave me the poles which I picked up and were loaded to a tricycle and brought to the terminal's location. Having all the materials, namely, the trapal, wires and bamboo poles, the tricycle drivers worked together to build the shed.

They all seemed to be expert in building structures, and I was happy to see that ANGAT VICTORIAS volunteers were able to help this group of tricycle drivers.

All we wanted was to provide a shelter for these drivers to protect them from the scorching sun and rains. This shed will help safeguard their health as they make a living for their families day and night.

The ANGAT VICTORIAS volunteers endeavor to help our fellow Victoriahanon in our own little way.😎

#AngatVictorias #AngatBuhay #tricycledrivers #tricycle #volunteerism

ANGAT VICTORIAS: Malihaw River Clean-Up

Right after the May 2022 elections, our volunteer group, the Leni-Kiko volunteers in our hometown, was inspired by former Vice-President Leni Robredo's initiative to create her own NGO. So, we also decided to keep our group together and create our own local volunteer group, ANGAT VICTORIAS, naming it after our city.

So, after having our logo created by Raymart, who was one of our volunteer-artists that created the Leni-Kiko murals in Victorias City and Bacolod City, Negros Occidental, we thought of volunteer activities that we could do for our hometown.

On July 16, 2022, Saturday, we decided to help clean up a part of the Malihaw River in Victorias City. 

The first-ever volunteer activity of ANGAT VICTORIAS was to fish out trash/garbage floating on the Malihaw River in Daan Banwa, Barangay 9, Victorias City.

The choice of the location was symbolic as this was where Victorias originated in the 1800s, and the choice of the time and date was to coincide with the high tide of about two meters at noon that day.

The high waters enabled the bancas to easily navigate the waters around the Daan Baan port where the acitivity concentrated.

Although the river clean-up resulted in a few garbage bags of floating trash as most of our volunteers were not available that day, the ANGAT VICTORIAS volunteers believe that educating the communities and barangays living along the river banks of Malihaw and Magnanud Rivers is the most important aspect of a real river clean-up.

While the floating trash collected consisted mostly of plastic bottles and single-use plastic bags, discarded food packaging, and plastic plates and toys, the volunteers noticed that dead pets, human waste, and occasional discarded appliances were also carelessly thrown into the river.

For future activities, the ANGAT VICTORIAS volunteers endeavor to hold activities that will help raise environmental awareness in our city.😍

#AngatVictorias #AngatBuhay #EarthDay #SaveThePlanet