Handyman collaborates with Habitat for Climate Action
(From L-R): Jamie Santos-Sugay, Resource Development and Communications Director of Habitat for Humanity Philippines; Stanley Co, Group General manager of Handyman; Wilfred Co, President and CEO of Herco Trading; and Wayne Coherco, Executive Vice President and COO of Herco Trading
As part of its social initiatives for climate action, Handyman Do it Best supported Habitat for Humanity’s Legacy of Hope Campaign, which aims to uplift the lives of 300,000 families through sustainable communities by building disaster-resilient homes.
“The combination is perfect because Habitat and Handyman are all about building homes,” says Stanley Co, Group General Manager of Handyman.
“These structures will be earthquake-proof and fire-resistant,” says Jamie Santos-Sugay, Resource Development and Communications Director of Habitat for Humanity Philippines.
These homes, which are expected to be in a duplex format, where two units are attached to each other, will also make use of bamboo as the primary material.
“Bamboo has the same strength required to put up a house,” adds Sugay. “At the same time, it grows much faster than regular lumber which makes it easier to be sourced as a construction material.”
On what makes a home disaster-resilient, Sugay says it has to be able to withstand a certain seismic magnitude scales and a certain wind speed.
Combining sustainability in the choice of materials and the quality that can tackle nature’s unexpected challenges is, for Habitat, the best way to build lasting communities.
“We like to think long term,” Sugay says. “The Philippines may not be the biggest contributor of carbon emissions in the world, but we are one of the 10 most susceptible to the effects of climate change because of our location. We want to make both disaster-resilient and sustainable homes to prevent future disasters.”
Sugay and the rest of Habitat are looking into Luzon area, Bacolod, and Tacloban for possible beneficiaries.
Also joining this cause is Herco Trading Inc. via a brand they distribute, Greenfield Tools. A promotion coinciding with Handyman’s 25th anniversary was launched, where for every purchase of one Greenfield hand tool in any of the 169 Handyman branches nationwide, one tool was donated to Habitat.
“We’ve always believed in the vision of Habitat to provide homes for Filipinos,” says Wayne Coherco, Executive Vice President of Herco Trading Inc. “It is a good opportunity for Greenfield to show that our tools are of high quality and can be equivalent to foreign counterparts. It also shows that we can help others and give back to the community.”