Bayanihan Through Hospitality

Two of the many lodging donors share why they opened their vacant spaces to healthcare workers

- Angela Casco

Not all heroes wear capes. Sometimes, they’re homeowners.

As the COVID-19-induced enhanced community quarantine placed the whole Luzon region on a lockdown, mass transportation has also been suspended, making it difficult for those with essential work to get to and from their workplaces.

This is especially true for health workers who deal with the viral disease first hand, as well as other frontliners like security guards, cashiers, restaurant servers, drugstore clerks, bank employees. In the early days of the quarantine, many of whom have resorted to walking long distances just to make it in time for their shift.

So when the need for temporary shelters became apparent and some homeowners started lending their vacant spaces, condo owners Evita Ricafort and Jane did not hesitate to do the same.

Helping from home

Just like everyone else pre-pandemic, Evita and Jane were living their normal, busy lives—the former as a public health lawyer and the latter as a sales manager in an IT company and an Airbnb host.

The rapid spread of COVID-19 causing virus and the implementation of the enhanced community quarantine that followed have since left them stuck at home, but it has not stopped them from helping in whatever way they can.