Cristobala Lozada could not contain her happiness for getting a free decent house to live in after her house was damaged by Typhoon Odette. She was one of the beneficiaries of the Libreng Alagad og Balay and the Balay sa Paglaum programs in Bohol. (RAHC/PIA Bohol)
It was a few minutes before eight, and there was already a buzz of activity in the highway roadside in Cabad, Balilihan town in Bohol. A woman, wielding a broom, was sweeping the grass in the lawn, the sweet rustic aroma of freshly mowed grass rising in contra-point with the scent of cooking caramel and burnt grass.
Moments later, men carrying a collapsible tent marched in to put up a makeshift sunshade for the early morning activity.
Judging by the number of monobloc chairs arranged under the tent, this would be a social event.
Activity buzzed in the dainty green-painted house made of woven bamboo and finished hollow blocks behind a closed and abandoned shop, in front of the tent set up. Women hung curtains, swept the cement floor. While in the kitchen, cooking on a low fire, was a vat filled with biko.
The house, built courtesy of free labor by Cabad barangay officials and members of the Philippine National Police in Balilihan, is set for turn over to Cristobala Gasatan Lozada, a widow and about to turn 70 years old.
Married after being swept off her feet in a chance romantic encounter with a betrothed guy from Brgy. Desamparados, Calape, Manang Cristobala or “Bala” to her neighbors, knows that the handsome Juan Lozada, with a bagful of cash for his supposed wedding, can only be serious with her if he persists.
After a full summer of courting, staying with her family in Balilihan for the fiesta, their Bohol vacation ended with a civil marriage.
Now, with their five children already having families of their own, Manang Bala, who wears a crown of silver hair, can hardly be imagined to be turning 70. Apart from the disconnect in her age and physical looks, anyone who knows her could hardly believe how she would survive the fate she has gotten into.
Bala worked for years as a sales lady at the Aristocrat Lamps, the forefathers of Aristocrat Home of Lamps in Manila, while Juan worked as millwright of Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific (AG and P) in Qatar.
With her husband wanting her to go full time as a housewife, Bala tended a small retail store in Parañaque, where they were made caretakers of a house in a subdivision.
Later on, it turned out that the money used to build the house was dirty money, and they were evicted. But Bala continued to pray. As fate would have it, good things do not last. Then things started to spiral out of control.
With her husband in Qatar, Bala decided to bring the children home to Balilihan. Juan followed them there, making use of whatever cash he could earn.
But Juan fell ill with cancer. Unable to work, Bala has to singularly support the family and the medical needs of a sick husband.
In 2004, after using up all their savings, her husband died. But with unrelenting faith and trust in divine providence, Nang Bala had to raise her children on her own, find a job, and feed them.
From then, by doing odd jobs and through fervent prayers, the children grew and had families of their own, leaving her and her youngest in their small house.
And then, Typhoon Odette struck. It is quite a wonder how, all through the years, Manang Bala continues to stick to a clockwork schedule, praying after waking up at the break of dawn, slicing bananas, cooking for the children and preparing them for school.
Now that she is alone, she is preoccupied like all grandmothers, working for her own and sometimes to provide for grandchildren’s needs.
With a house totally ravaged by Odette, Bala met with social workers from the Department of Social Welfare and Development who saw her totally damaged house, and living alone as a senior citizen.
For this, she was considered for a P15,000 livelihood assistance.
“I was interviewed and it went well, so I was expecting that I can finally get something to start up again. I prayed like I never had prayed earnestly,” she shared.
Living on a P700 weekly capital, Bala makes sure that she could profit so she could buy her food and pay for her habal-habal fare to the nearby state college where she sells banana split as snacks.
“Bring the bananas here on the table,” she asked a lady neighbour cooking in the kitchen, as the community helped her prepare for the VIP guests in the turn-over ceremonies.
The bananas they are cooking are those that she is supposed to sell so she can buy a few kilos of rice for tonight.
“No, this is my humble contribution, my way of thanking those who helped me rebuild the house,” she insisted when somebody said she could sell the bananas instead.
And thinking of the DSWD help, she already had in mind what to do with the money. “The livelihood assistance could be a big help,” she said.
Unfortunately, she said she was scrapped from the final list.
“Aho nang gitugyan tanan sa Ginoo, kon kinsay makahatag naho og gikan sa financial, ug uban pa, labi na karon nga nagkinahanglan ko og puhunan sa ahong gamay nga negosyo,” she said.
(I leave it all up to God, that he would send me someone who can help me financially and with my other needs during this time when I need funds to start my small business.)
Bala’s prayers were answered after she was introduced to the Balay sa Paglaum and the PNP Libreng Alagad og Balay in 20024. After meeting with Governor Erico Aristotle Aumentado, Bala became a beneficiary of the two said programs.
A few weeks later, Bala is set to move into a new house worth P80,000, which is slightly bigger than the old Lozada house stands.
The house is one of the 145 houses which the police and the top leaders aim to build under Aumentado’s Balay sa Paglaum and the PNP Libreng Alagad og Balay in 20024.
“Another 152 are scheduled to be built in 2026,” said Police Lt. Col. Norman Nuez.
“I am so happy I have good neighbors, even happier that the governor and his family gave this house,” Bala said as she entertained a pastor and her church members after s short house dedication before the turnover.
For her visitors, she bought pilit and cooked biko. She also cooked the last of her ripe bananas for her neighbors, from her P700 capital. In fact, she spent the last P200 of her 700 capital for the person who mowed her lawn.
“Wala na ko makahibaw asa ko ani, pero, ingon man ang Ginoo, tan-awa ang mga langgam, wala sila magtanum apan makakaon, mao nga salig lang ta,” she said.
(I don’t know what the future holds, but the Lord said in the Bible to look at the birds, they can still eat even though they don’t work for their food, which is why I can only put my trust in God.)
She may have spent the last of her P700 which could have bought her more food for tomorrow. But like her namesake San Cristobal, by keeping the faith and continuing to pray amid the hardships, Nang Bala does not think she will go hungry or starve to death.
Not now that she has a decent house, which is one less worry for her. (RAHC/PIA Bohol)
