I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.Job:3:26
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[9]O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help. [10]I will be thy king: where is any other that may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes?Hosea:13:9-10
I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.John:15:5
PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Andrea Domingo (right) and La Paz Mayor Venustiano Jordan unveil the marker of the newly built Multi-Purpose Evacuation Center.
PAGCOR allots more than P4 billion for the construction of disaster-resilient structures nationwide
Satan works through the elements also to garner his harvest of unprepared souls. He has studied the secrets of the laboratories of nature, and he uses all his power to control the elements as far as God allows. When he was suffered to afflict Job, how quickly flocks and herds, servants, houses, children, were swept away, one trouble succeeding another as in a moment. It is God that shields His creatures and hedges them in from the power of the destroyer. But the Christian world have shown contempt for the law of Jehovah; and the Lord will do just what He has declared that He would—He will withdraw His blessings from the earth and remove His protecting care from those who are rebelling against His law and teaching and forcing others to do the same. Satan has control of all whom God does not especially guard. He will favor and prosper some in order to further his own designs, and he will bring trouble upon others and lead men to believe that it is God who is afflicting them.
While appearing to the children of men as a great physician who can heal all their maladies, he will bring disease and disaster, until populous cities are reduced to ruin and desolation. Even now he is at work. In accidents and calamities by sea and by land, in great conflagrations, in fierce tornadoes and terrific hailstorms, in tempests, floods, cyclones, tidal waves, and earthquakes, in every place and in a thousand forms, Satan is exercising his power. He sweeps away the ripening harvest, and famine and distress follow. He imparts to the air a deadly taint, and thousands perish by the pestilence. These visitations are to become more and more frequent and disastrous. Destruction will be upon both man and beast. “The earth mourneth and fadeth away,” “the haughty people … do languish. The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.” Isaiah 24:4, 5.
And then the great deceiver will persuade men that those who serve God are causing these evils. The class that have provoked the displeasure of Heaven will charge all their troubles upon those whose obedience to God’s commandments is a perpetual reproof to transgressors. It will be declared that men are offending God by the violation of the Sunday sabbath; that this sin has brought calamities which will not cease until Sunday observance shall be strictly enforced; and that those who present the claims of the fourth commandment, thus destroying reverence for Sunday, are troublers of the people, preventing their restoration to divine favor and temporal prosperity. Thus the accusation urged of old against the servant of God will be repeated and upon grounds equally well established: “And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel? And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father’s house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed Baalim.” 1 Kings 18:17, 18. As the wrath of the people shall be excited by false charges, they will pursue a course toward God’s ambassadors very similar to that which apostate Israel pursued toward Elijah GC 589.2 – GC 590.1
Being situated within the Pacific Ring of Fire makes the Philippines vulnerable to volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. As if this is not enough, the country also sits on the western rim of the Pacific Ocean, where destructive tropical cyclones develop.
Hence, thousands of Filipinos who are at the mercy of these devastating natural disasters often risk losing their properties and even lives.PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Andrea Domingo (left) congratulates the people of La Paz town in Tarlac for the swift completion of their Multi-Purpose Evacuation Center.
To help mitigate the impact of natural calamities and support the government in providing comfortable, disaster-resilient establishments to vulnerable communities, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) released a total of P4.68 billion from 2016 to 2022 for the construction of typhoon-resilient structures in various sites nationwide.
[12]There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another? [13]Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: [14]Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. [15]For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. [16]But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.James:4:12-16
In November 2020, PAGCOR launched its Multi-Purpose Evacuation Centers (MPEC) project, which aims to build permanent edifices in vulnerable communities mainly to serve as evacuation centers to mitigate the loss of lives during calamities.
The agency has allotted P3.50 billion for the construction of 77 MPECs in provinces that are frequently hit by typhoons.
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Multi-Purpose Evacuation Center (MPEC) in La Paz, Tarlac
O cials and residents of Tapaz town in Capiz proudly pose for a photo opportunity in front of their newly-built MPEC.
The PAGCOR-funded MPEC in Sagnay, Camarines Sur is among the first evacuation structures to finish construction.
The MPEC in Barangay Mangero in San Andres, Quezon is already in the thick of construction.
The MPEC in Barangay Camflora in San Andres, Quezon is already in the thick of construction.
Locations include Mountain Province, Kalinga, Benguet, Ilocos Sur, Pangasinan, Isabela, Cagayan, Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Zambales, Cavite, Batangas, Laguna, Quezon, Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Romblon, Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Capiz, Leyte, Eastern Samar, Northern Samar, Southern Leyte, Zamboanga del Sur, and Davao de Oro.
When the MPECs are not being used as evacuation centers, they may be utilized by recipients for other purposes and community activities such as sports meets, vaccination drives and seminars.
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The PAGCOR Village project in Lemery, Batangas will soon house locals displaced by the Taal volcano eruption in 2020.
The PAGCOR Village project in Lemery, Batangas will soon house locals displaced by the Taal volcano eruption in 2020.
Meanwhile, the state-run gaming firm also unveiled in 2021 the “PAGCOR Village”, a charitable project that seeks to safeguard the living conditions of families displaced by the eruption of Taal Volcano in Batangas in 2020.
This project, with a funding of P150 million, will benefit the towns of Agoncillo, Lemery, Balete, Mataas na Kahoy and Taal. Said towns are all in close proximity to Taal Volcano’s danger zone.
Moreover, PAGCOR also granted a total of P1.03 billion assistance to some LGUs and organizations from 2016 to 2022.
Let men beware lest they neglect the lesson conveyed to them in the words of Christ. As He warned His disciples of Jerusalem’s destruction, giving them a sign of the approaching ruin, that they might make their escape; so He has warned the world of the day of final destruction and has given them tokens of its approach, that all who will may flee from the wrath to come. Jesus declares: “There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations.” Luke 21:25; Matthew 24:29; Mark 13:24-26; Revelation 6:12-17. Those who behold these harbingers of His coming are to “know that it is near, even at the doors.” Matthew 24:33. “Watch ye therefore,” are His words of admonition. Mark 13:35. They that heed the warning shall not be left in darkness, that that day should overtake them unawares. But to them that will not watch, “the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.” 1 Thessalonians 5:2-5.
The world is no more ready to credit the message for this time than were the Jews to receive the Saviour’s warning concerning Jerusalem. Come when it may, the day of God will come unawares to the ungodly. When life is going on in its unvarying round; when men are absorbed in pleasure, in business, in traffic, in money-making; when religious leaders are magnifying the world’s progress and enlightenment, and the people are lulled in a false security—then, as the midnight thief steals within the unguarded dwelling, so shall sudden destruction come upon the careless and ungodly, “and they shall not escape.” Verse 3. GC 37.2 – GC 38.1
Among them is the P11-million donation to the provincial governments of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Cagayan, Isabela, Kalinga, Apayao and Mountain Province for the rehabilitation of various infrastructure damaged by typhoon Lawin in 2016.
PAGCOR also donated P50 million to the City of Marikina for the construction of two covered courts.
Apart from the communities, PAGCOR provided financial support to Veterans Memorial Medical Center (P123.65 million) and V. Luna Medical Center (P53.22 million) for the construction of dormitories which will serve as a halfway house for the families and watchers of patients confined in the hospital.
The impact of disasters on the lives and well-being of affected families is real. But by bankrolling long-term infrastructure projects, PAGCOR is helping build safe communities for more Filipinos — improving their disaster-preparedness and mitigating the loss of lives.
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