Great moments in Operation Damayan

Manila, Philippines - The frenzy of putting a newspaper to bed couldn’t possibly have any other rival in The STAR offices except perhaps the frenzy of packing relief goods for Operation Damayan’s missions. From handing out relief goods and cooking meals for typhoon and flood victims to wading in waist-deep flood waters and enduring long land travels to far-flung areas, Damayan volunteers – mostly employees of The STAR Group of Publications – have been tirelessly helping out in the company’s socio-civic missions for as long as the newspaper has been in existence.

“Ano ang panama ng pagod natin sa hirap at pagod nila (Our hard work is nothing compared to the hardship and suffering of these people),” Emie Cruz, coordinator of Operation Damayan, was quoted as saying during a Damayan operation after the devastation wrought by tropical storm “Ondoy” in 2009. So one mission after another, Operation Damayan, the socio-civic arm of The STAR Group of Publications, just grew and grew and became an enduring STAR family tradition that gives the paper a deeper sense of purpose and meaning. Here are a dozen heartwarming stories about Operation Damayan that stand out in the volunteers’ collective memory:

In lieu of flowers

When STAR’s founding chairman Betty Go-Belmonte passed away in January 1994, she left one important wish: in lieu of flowers, the family would gladly accept donations to Operation Damayan.

Donations poured in, thousands of people joined the wake and the funeral that celebrated the life of an extraordinary woman who gave a big part of her life to helping the needy – but not without flowers, as the bouquets came nevertheless, thousands of them... orchids, lilacs, white and yellow roses. On September 8 of the same year, or eight months after her passing, high school students of the Guadalupe Catholic School in Makati City made a unique way of honoring Mama Mary on her feast day. In lieu of flowers, they offered pencils, pad papers, notebooks, and other basic school supplies during the Mass offertory, which were later donated the “Lapis, Papel, at Kinabukasan” project of The STAR.

The students collected 414 pencils, 100 ballpens, 135 notebooks, 148 pads 49 erasers, 26 boxes of crayons and other materials. They also later on contributed journals, flash cards, liquid paper, pentel pens and other things for the teachers. The “Lapis at Papel” campaign was launched in July that year in cooperation with the UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines and the Asian Institute of Journalism (AIJ) to collect and distribute school supplies to indigent students in remote areas. More than a dole out, AIJ president Dr. Florangel Braid said the project was a gesture of support to students and teachers. “We want to send the message that the community cares,” she said.

When helping hand meets outstretched palm

Gratitude knows no bounds for those who receive even the smallest gestures of kindness at a moment of great need. The STAR reporter Sheila Crisostomo recounts such a scene: “I was deeply touched by an elderly woman whom I saw secretly kissing the plastic bag full of two kilos of rice, sardines, bread, coffee, evaporated milk and laundry soap given to her by the Damayan team,” she wrote on July 29, 1997 right after Operation Damayan’s visit to the upland Sitio Macarang in Barangay Aglao, San Marcelino, Zambales. The town was ravaged by the Mt. Pinatubo eruption in 1991 and seven years after the disaster, Aetas and residents of several barangays whose homes were washed away by lahar flows were still in dire need of help.

Party time

If you are born without legs and a left arm, can you go to a kiddie party? Jonel Papa, who was six years old in 1998, did and probably can still say now that yes, he or anybody can.

The first time Operation Damayan threw a Christmas party for street children at The STAR office as part of its “Mano Po Ninang, Mano Po Ninong” project in 1998, Jonel’s mother carried him to the office in Port Area so he could enjoy the parlor games, mascots and party food.

“Ngayon lang siya naka-attend ng ganitong party. Mukhang nage-enjoy siya kahit hindi siya makasali sa mga games (It is his first time to attend a party like this. It seems he is enjoying although he can’t join in the games),” mother Nelia said during the party.

STAR employees and donors, acting as godparents, gave the children gifts and took them to the magic land of mascots. Sailor Moon, Grimace and the funny man in the red suit came to party. The gifts weren’t grand, but apples, raisin bread and goodies in the Christmas basket were enough to celebrate the season of love. “When God gives you something, you must share it with others. That’s the essence of life,” says one regular donor who attended the party.

Let there be blood

It has no bearing on the age-old tradition of wearing red to celebrate a momentous occasion that STAR employees wore red on its 12th anniversary celebration in July 1998. As STARweek editor Doreen Yu wrote in her column, the anniversary festivities for the year “separated the brave from the truly brave, the bloody from the bloodless.”

Encouraged by the example set by STAR president and CEO Miguel Belmonte, a regular blood donor, STAR employees braved the needle and gave blood to the Red Cross. Some may not have done it for very altruistic reasons, joining the queue only because celebrities Rosa Rosal, then governor of the Philippine Red Cross, and Richard and Lucy Gomez were there to join the blood-letting campaign, but ended up giving to the campaign nevertheless.

There were many who were rejected for being anemic, underweight, and, as some joked, “HIV positive,” and one could see from the mournful faces of those who could not join the fun that they missed something terribly important.

“Excuse me while I take a malunggay break: I do not intend to be rejected a second time,” wrote Yu.

In the beginning it was yellow

On The STAR’s maiden issue on July 28, 1986, the day’s biggest news was the death of a 22-year-old man at the hands of Marcos loyalists. His fault: he was wearing yellow.

“Wear yellow and die,” screamed The STAR’s maiden headline, accompanied by photos of the mob beating Steve Rodriguez to death. For several days, the paper closely followed the story and, thanks to the photos, those responsible were eventually caught. Beyond the scoop and the reportage, the story touched Mrs. Belmonte so much that she extended emotional and financial support to Salcedo’s widow and children.

This was the beginning of the causes that the newspaper would support and embrace with a passion, combining journalism with advocacy, that would eventually lay the foundation of what is today Operation Damayan. Damayan, the formal organization, however, was formed many years later, after the devastation wrought by the Mt. Pinatubo eruption in 1991.

Twice blessed

In 1968, a three-month-old baby named Rico Domingo became only the third person in Asia to be diagnosed with a rare disease known as cancer of the retina. Thanks to the financial support extended to his family by the government and the private sector, he was able to undergo surgery in the United States and he grew up to become a government employee himself.

Thirty years later in 1998, his own three-month-old daughter was diagnosed with the same disease. This time, Rico sought the help of Operation Damayan to appeal for financial assistance from generous readers to support his daughter’s therapy sessions. Rico and Trixie’s story is replicated in many appeals for help Damayan has received – and continues to receive – through the years. Children born with deformities, rare diseases and ailments that require medical attention, expensive operations that ordinary folk cannot afford, and many other cases have been brought to readers’ attention and received overwhelming help.

Not banana stalks for lunch

1998 may be remembered as the year the El Niño phenomenon ravaged southern Mindanao, leaving a trail of broken lives in its wake as a result of the prolonged drought in farming communities down south. Because farmers could not harvest their crops, hunger and disease followed. There were reports that some people resorted to eating the pith of banana stalks and poisonous wild tubers to survive. Former senator Ramon Magsaysay Jr., under the President Ramon Magsaysay Foundation, launched Operation Tawid Gutom in cooperation with Operation Damayan to raise funds and food for Mindanao. The goal was to reach some 44,000 hunger-stricken families in 230 barangays.

Love at first sight

They sang, they ate, and yes, they danced on Valentine’s Day. No, they weren’t celebrating the throes of first love, but probably their last. Lolo Agustin Lilac and Lola Rosita Maburang, both long time residents of the Golden Acres Home for the Aged in Quezon City, exchanged “I dos” on V-day in 1998. It was a heart-filled day for the elders at Golden Acres, however, for another reason. Operation Damayan had just completed renovating their laundry room and the St. Claire cottage, which burned down a day after Christmas two months back. Damayan immediately launched a fund drive to rebuild the facility, hoping to give the seniors a better place and more comfort on Love Day. Donations quickly poured in to the “Love Ko Si Lola, Love Ko Si Lolo” fund that on V-day, it was “mission accomplished.”

Down but not out

Toppled bridges, collapsed houses, dreams washed away by nature’s fury. It is easy in this country to wallow in pity with the yearly recurrence of typhoons, floods, earthquakes, fire and other calamities. Yet, every time a disaster occurs, boundless generosity abounds. Through the years, Damayan has brought to the attention of STAR readers the need for food, clothing, water and other supplies in disaster-stricken areas – and they never failed to respond. Donors from all walks of life have given their share – from a humble offering of a few pesos from ordinary citizens to millions from corporate social responsibility funds of the country’s top corporations As always, it wasn’t the amount, but the collective effort to help each other in times of great need that shone through.

Fund for peace

Their arms and legs bandaged, their wives by their side, soldiers who fought in the siege of Camp Abubakar were fighting for their own lives at the AFP Medical Center in Quezon City when Operation Damayan made a visit in July 2000. It is true, while most people render an eight-hour service to earn daily wages, soldiers put their lives on the line to earn theirs, and when they are hurt or wounded in battle, does the nation pay attention? So, while the war raged in Mindanao, Damayan set up the Soldiers for Peace Fund to help raise funds for wounded soldiers and their families. While a small amount of cash cannot assuage the grief, it goes a long way to ensure medical care for those tasked to fight for peace.

Rainy days and a Saturday

Two hundred fifty volunteers led by STAR president/CEO Miguel Belmonte who joined Damayan’s biggest medical mission in a Quezon City public school named after The STAR founder remember the rains very well. It was a Saturday and two days away from the company’s 13th anniversary. The day-long mission was ready with medical supplies, medicine and a large team of doctors, nurses, dentists, optometrists and other healthcare professionals. The weather, however, did not deter beneficiaries from trooping to the school to avail of free medical services. Of the 7,000 expected to come, 5,000 made it.

“Rain or shine, the caring continues,” wrote Crisostomo about the project, appropriately named “Project Kalinga,” the Filipino word for “care.”

A pebble in the pond

Probably not too many people know today that The STAR’s socio-civic arm grew out of the “Pebbles” column of Mrs. Belmonte during the formative years of the paper. Readers would write to Tita Betty to appeal for help for a sick child’s operation and other desperate needs, and The STAR’s loyal readers would respond. Whatever blessings the company has, it gives back in a cycle of generosity that begins at home. “The company’s editors, reporters, photographers, accountants, clerks, drivers, and other employees got involved in the search for reasonably priced canned goods, rice, blankets, slippers, tents and other basic items; the collection of used clothes, the packaging of relief items, and their delivery to the disaster-stricken areas,” wrote The STAR reporter Liza Lacson on the 10th anniversary of Damayan in 1996.

Today, the tradition continues. Damayan is very much and will probably remain primarily a family affair for The STAR employees. And all because its founder threw a pebble in the pond and it made and continues to make waves.

You’ve heard it before and you’ll hear it many times more from Damayan: “We offer hope, not charity.”