May 3, 2024
Tzu Chi proves a reliable partner to San Juan City
By Joy Rojas
When San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora learned about the April 16 fire in Barangay Batis, and how it gutted the homes of 196 families, the first call he made was to the Tzu Chi Foundation.
“The relationship between San Juan and Tzu Chi runs deep,” he says. “You have really contributed to the community. And your contributions have been very much sustained. You just don’t help then leave. Tzu Chi is always there to assist us.”
For Batis, Tzu Chi prepared goods that would aid families in slowly getting back on their feet after losing nearly everything they own. Volunteers were at San Juan City Hall on April 30, first to lead a packed room of local government leaders and beneficiaries to a prayer, then to distribute relief items. By day’s end, representatives from 189 families each claimed a P500 voucher from Puregold, 10-kg sack of rice, one blanket, one sleeping mat, one pail, one casserole, one frying pan, one spatula, 10 plates, 10 drinking cups, 10 spoons, 10 forks, shampoo, and biscuits.
Zamora was a councilor in 2007 when Tzu Chi was already extending assistance to his constituents. But it wasn’t just for fires and other disasters. In November 2010, volunteer doctors from TIMA (Tzu Chi International Medical Association) organized their first free dental and medical clinic at the San Juan City Jail. The initiative was repeated in 2012 (with volunteer doctors from Taiwan participating) and in 2017.
“Most of the inmates could not believe Tzu Chi could return here to hold a free clinic,” said jail warden Manuel Flores Jr. “Volunteers and medical professionals never see them as prisoners. They are kind to them.”
In the 2020 pandemic, when lockdowns kept people off the streets, San Juan City’s tricycle and jeepney drivers were among the recipients of Tzu Chi’s generous rice distribution. The foundation also donated 100 beds to “KKK: Kalinga Kontra Korona,” a project of the Alumni Association of Xavier Schools, Inc., Xavier School, and the City Government of San Juan to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. The beds were used in the four-story, 15-room San Juan City Science High School building, where COVID-positive patients recuperated at the time.
In gratitude, the City Government of San Juan recognized Tzu Chi Foundation as a valued partner in its pandemic response during its 115th Foundation Day on March 27, 2022.
From time to time, Mayor Zamora turns to the Tzu Chi Eye Center for its free cataract surgery. “Many of my constituents need the procedure,” he says, “and we know how expensive it is in private hospitals. I’ve been to your eye center and I was so amazed to see your high-tech equipment. Our people are happy because not everyone gets to have a cataract operation for free in a very nice facility such as yours.”
Sharing Tzu Chi’s mission to alleviate the suffering of others, the mayor can continue to count on Tzu Chi’s support for years to come. “You will always be our partner in helping the people of San Juan,” he says.
San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora addresses his constituents during a distribution of relief for Barangay Batis fire victims on April 30 at San Juan City Hall. 【Photo by Marella Saldonido】
Sacks of 10-kg rice and coin banks from Tzu Chi are lined up next to other relief goods claimed by the 189 families affected by the April 16 blaze in Barangay Batis, San Juan. Beneficiaries also received cash assistance from the San Juan City local government and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and goods from DSWD and the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Foundation Inc. 【Photo by Marella Saldonido】
A constituent happily claims a 10-kg sack of Tzu Chi rice from Mayor Francis Zamora. 【Photo by Marella Saldonido】
Flanked by San Juan City Vice Mayor Angelo Agcaoili (second from left) and Tzu Chi volunteers, San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora has known the Tzu Chi Foundation since he was a councilor in 2007. 【Photo by Marella Saldonido】