The number of corona infections in Cebu City has soared, following the quarantine easing two weeks ago. Therefore, Philippine President Duterte has ordered another lockdown of Cebu City until at least July 15. A large number of soldiers have been deployed to hermetically seal off the city's borders. Everyone must stay inside and this is being strictly enforced by the police and military. Checkpoints have been set up in all districts of the city. Only one person per family is allowed on the streets every other day, exclusively to buy food, and that person must carry a special pass with a QR code. Dust masks are mandatory and high fines are handed out if you forget them. Disappointment and sadness On June 1, quarantine measures in the city were relaxed somewhat, and some day laborers were able to return to work. Meanwhile, however, the number of infections continued to rise steadily. While "normal" life is resuming in Cebu province and the rest of the Philippines, the disappointment and sadness among the Pasuk families trapped in the city is great. Everyone is done with having to sit inside for months, without work and income, and the continuous uncertainty. Online abuse It is not only the lack of food that worries us. Since the beginning of the corona crisis, many more Filipino children have become victims of abuse in front of webcams. This is the finding of our local partner International Justice Mission (IJM), an organization that fights against child Internet abuse in Cebu, among other places. Often it is their own parents, relatives or "family friends" who abuse children for livestreaming. Figures from IJM show that this is the case for 62 percent of abused children. So they are abused by people with whom they are now in the house 24 hours a day. Demand for online sex shows with children often comes from Western countries, including the Netherlands. Consumers use everyday technology, such as social media and live-streaming apps, to give orders and direct the child abuse. Tragically, current conditions are now perfect for this murky economy to grow: Philippine schools are closed, children sit at home all day, and because of the lockdown, many families have money problems - so they start looking for new ways of income. Resumption of emergency aid Small bright spot in the sad situation is that the government has given money, which families in poverty can use to buy their basic necessities. The local city government also distributed rice in the slums this week. As Pasuk Foundation, we have decided to continue with emergency relief for the time being and distribute weekly food packages to the ninety Pasuk families. At the bottom of this page is our photo album, with some images of our Covid-19 emergency relief program.
Give food to a family The need in Pasuk families is high, as you can read further down this page. It is our prayer that we may and can continue to help. For this we are completely dependent on donations. For 10 euros we can provide food for an entire family for a week. Will you help? You can donate in the following ways:
DONATE ANONYONE
TIKKIE You donate easily and quickly through Tikkie
Bank transfer NL11 ABNA 0415 2876 26 t.n.v. Pasuk Foundation, o.v.v. "Emergency Aid Covid-19"
Good to know: Pasuk Foundation is classified by the tax authorities as an Institution for General Benefit (ANBI). This means that your donation is tax deductible.
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IDEAL or PAYPAL Choose the number of families you want to support:
Good to know: Pasuk Foundation is classified by the tax authorities as an Institution for General Benefit (ANBI). This means that your donation is tax deductible.
From our project director Read below the update from Pasuk project director Russel Villafuerte:
Russel VillafuerteCebu City, June 29Dear sponsors of Pasuk Foundation,Covid-19 is still causing so much hardship and pain especially to those families that have family members who got the corona virus, much painful for those who lost their loved ones.
Right now our very own city, Metro Cebu is already in the eyes of the world. After a spike in Covid-19 cases. Cebu City is back to Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ). Last June 16, President Duterte placed our City from the more relaxed General Community Quarantine to ECQ again. It's really very alarming because everyday the rise of Covid-19 cases in our city is by hundreds.
Last June 25, Cebu City was put on the hard lock down, particularly the 12 barangays (= 'city areas'), and our own barangay (Duljo-Fatima) was included. Almost all barangays where our Pasuk scholars are residing were included on the hard lock down. Our President sent some of his police and military generals to man and lead the very strict enforcement of the Covid-19 protocols (social distancing, wearing of face mask, etc.).
'Hard lock down' means that all people (below 18 and 60 yrs up) must stay at home. Only one person in every family is allowed to go out and buy food and other essentials. In going out they should always wear the new quarantine pass ID, with QR code. They are allowed to go out, three times a week only. During Sundays, no one is allowed to go out from their house. In order to ensure the strict observance of the hard lock down protocols, there are many police and military personnel roaming around the streets. President Duterte sent companies of police and military as reinforcement. That's we are already seeing Armored Personnel Vehicles (APV) running on our streets.
Personally, I am deeply saddened with the present situation of our City.
Since March, it's been 3 months already that many people have no more income because they were not allowed to work or to do business, due to the quarantine. Then, this hard lock down was imposed to our City. What will happen to the poor people in our communities. Most of these barangays that are on hard lock down are squatter areas, their houses are so close to each other. Usually their houses are so small and without proper ventilation. How can they survive the prolonged stay at home order. Just imagine, 5 to 10 people are packed inside their very small house. I think this is one of the reasons why the virus spread so rapidly. This is also the reason why the people in these squatter areas keep on going out from their houses, thus disobeying the order of staying at home. They can't stay long inside their very small house, it's hot and they can't breathe. But right now, they are forced to stay at home because so many police and soldiers are manning their community. Disobeying the quarantine rules will result to paying high penalties or imprisonment. I already heard people voicing their hopelessness. They are already starving. The helps from our government is not really enough. Many parents are crying of seeing their small children becoming hungry because of the lack of food. We really need help.
We keep on praying to God for His grace and mercy. I hope this ECQ in our city will soon end. Please continue in praying and helping us.
The Pasuk Foundation food packs that we gave every week, for almost 3 months, really help our Pasuk families survive. By faith we are believing that we can again resume the giving of the food packs this week and onward, until this ECQ and hard lock down will be lifted.
From the bottom of our hearts, we are so thankful for your help. Your donation will greatly help the poor families, especially our Pasuk families, because they are the ones that greatly suffer in this Covid-19 pandemic.
To God be all the glory!Russel Villafuerte Pasuk Project Director, Cebu Bible Church
Photos View photos below of the food assistance we provide each week to Pasuk children and their families.
