January 01, 2014 — THE SM Group through SM Cares held a groundbreaking ceremony that marked the company’s first step in the housing project for victims of Super typhoon Yolanda in northern Cebu. 

The project will also roll out in other areas in the Visayas such as in Palo, Leyte, Samar and Panay Island. Hans T. Sy, president of SM Prime Holdings, Inc.; Cebu Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale; and Bogo City Mayor Celestino Martinez Jr. led the ceremony of the first SM Cares Housing Project in Barangay Polambato in Bogo City, Cebu, on December 21 last year.

The heirs of Wenceslao and Margarita Briones Fernan, represented by Eloisa Fernan, donated a 1-hectare property to the SM Group as a show of support for the project. The company will build a village of 200 houses in the donated lot in Bogo City.

The SM Cares Housing Project is part of the SM Group’s Pl00-million commitment for various assistance to communities affected by Yolanda in the Visayas. The SM Group’s efforts include immediate relief operations, building of housing and community centers, rehabilitation of schools churches and providing medical missions.

Each house will be built with concrete roofing, high ceiling, proper ventilation and utility-ready provision. The village will have as-meter wide road network, a concrete perimeter fence, a community center and a basketball court.

SM is also inviting partners in the housing project through the sponsorship of houses to help achieve the targeted 1,000 houses.

This project is covered by DSWD Authority Number 2013-21 valid from November 21, 2013, to November 20, 2014.

Interested donors, corporate or individual, may visit SM City Cebu mall administration office on the second level of The Northwing.

SM Cares serves as the holistic and cohesive flagship of the group’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs. The goal is to ensure that SM serves not only as the retail industry leader, but al acts as a catalyst toward positive change in the nation and leading by example when it comes to CSR.