Figure if you are a family of six and living in a makeshift tattered shack made of junk materials. Such kind of life is difficult indeed.

While the whole world is celebrating to welcome another year, the family of Ricardo and Patricia Gonzales are struggling to divide themselves a frugal meal they made out of the P100 income Ricardo have earned from selling trash and junk.

When Perry Cuaresma, a correspondent with UNTV News and Rescue, gave them a ready-made hut made of bamboo, a week’s supply of grocery items, flashlights, and cooked food, the Gonzales family beamed with joy and gratitude for the blessing they received at an unexpected time.

Charities during Repaso 2016

From left, news anchors William Theo, Annie Rentoy, and Atty. Reggie Tongol during the Repaso 2016 broadcast. (Photo by: Marlon Bonajos, Photoville International)

Repaso 2016 aired from of December 31, 2016 until 5:00 of January 1, 2017. News anchors and guest panelists summarized and commented on the key events that happened in 2016 and gave predictions on expected events in 2017.

One of the highlights of the program was the charity events and programs being done by UNTV News and Rescue and its partner organizations, including the Members Church of God International (MCGI) led by its Overall Servant Bro Eli Soriano.

While the whole Philippines celebrated the turning of the year, the television station offered free medical services, especially to victims of accidents and firecracker injuries.

Every New Year, hundreds of Filipinos incurred injuries from firecrackers, some of which explode as powerful and damaging as dynamites.

UNTV News and Rescue correspondents and field staff, all of whom are certified to administer first aid, were deployed in various cities in the country, including Metro Manila, Bacolod, Baguio, Bataan, Batangas, Bicol, Bulacan, Cagayan de Oro City, Cavite, Davao, Iloilo, Laguna, Masbate, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Quezon Province, Rizal, Tarlac, at Zambales. UNTV Fire Brigade was also on red alert for responding residential and industrial fires.

In the course of Repaso 2016, UNTV News and Rescue reported to have served 33 people, including victims of firecrackers and motor accidents. UNTV Fire Brigade also responded to two fire incidents in Metro Manila.

Helping the Poor and Devastated Souls

Aside from its rescue and medical initiatives, UNTV News and Rescue also extended its charity services to providing goods and financial assistance to the poor and the needy, even while the environment is busy reveling on the New Year.

Ronaldo and his family are among the beneficiaries of the network’s drive to do public service to the indigent.

The Gonzales family is an example of millions of Filipino families living in slums and destitution. Like Ricardo, whose livelihood is to sell renewable trash items to “junk shops,” they subsist on the measly income they get from irregular and sometimes life-threatening employment.

In another place, UNTV News and Rescue correspondent King Timtim also delivered grocery items and a dinner to a family of 14 living in a small shack in Mandaue City, Cebu province. The head of the family, Ruel, 46, is a butcher whose meager earnings only cover their everyday subsistence.

“Makakita lang kami ng kahit kaunti bawat araw dito para makakain, makabili ng bigas,  makapagaral ang mga bata, [at] pambaon nila. (Our daily income is only enough to buy rice, and food as well as our children’s tuition fee and their school allowance.)”

Their daily budget is not enough to rent even a small apartment, so like Ronaldo, Ruel and his huge family are housed in a small crude house made of scraps of wood and patched canvas.

A Biblical Virtue with Priceless Reward

Helping the poor and the needy is one of the biblical virtue and advocacy espoused by Kuya Daniel Razon and UNTV News and Rescue through the preaching of Bro Eli.

As the CEO of Philippines’ most active public service channel, Kuya Daniel has been spearheading many feeding programs for the impoverished in different areas in the Philippines and abroad.

Also, he and the entire UNTV News and Rescue have been organizing relief and rescue operations for people were victims of calamities and manmade disasters, even during the airing Repaso 2016.

The small but memorable gifts UNTV News and Rescue and its partner MCGI gave to the families of Ronaldo and Ruel were deeply cherished.

Their heartfelt smiles are already rewards that money cannot buy. This inexpressible feeling is proof of Bro Eli and Kuya Daniel biblically inspired teaching: Walang mabuting gawa na magbubunga ng masama (There is no good deed that result in evil).

Written by Anthony Chua