Josemarie Candelario, 31 years old, is a former overseas Filipino worker (OFW) who lost his job due to the pandemic. Worse, he later found out that his agency is a fraud. He now works as a laborer and sews shoes as a part time worker. He is the sole breadwinner for the family.

Josemarie’s family lives in Barrio Site, San Agustin, San Jose in Occidental Mindoro which is near the Busuanga River. According to him, whenever it rains heavily, the river’s water level increases and Barrio Site is always the first community to be affected.

“It’s already 9am when the level of water in the river started to increase rapidly. In just a couple of hours, the river water reached our house. We saved our important things and moved them on the roof. Then, we evacuated our children to our neighbor’s house which has a 2nd floor,” Josemarie narrates.

With no other source of income, Josemarie depends on relief assistance and help from others so that his family could survive. He is selected as one of the beneficiaries of the Emergency Relief Response Project by the Southern Tagalog People’s Response Center, Inc. (STPRC) and Citizen’s Disaster Response Center Foundation, Inc. (CDRC) with support from Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe (DKH). Each of the 578 beneficiaries received food pack and hygiene kit.

Josemarie’s family expressed their gratitude for the assistance they received. According to him, it is the first relief assistance that they received since TY Quinta ravaged his community.