12 January 2015 - Hawaii House of Representatives Vice-Speaker John Mizuno and his wife, May Mizuno, President of Confederation of Visayan Organizations in Hawaii, and Philippine Consul General Gina Jamoralin attended the Official Turn-over Ceremony in Sagbayan, Bohol of the COVO Aloha-GK USA Village to victims of the 2013 Bohol earthquake and Typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan on 28 December 2014.

More than 20 families were recipient of new homes constructed out of the funds raised by the COVO, an umbrella organization of Visayans in Hawaii and the Gawad Kalinga USA in the aftermath of the Bohol Earthquake and Typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan in 2013.  The project was a joint initiative of the COVO Hawaii who held fundraising events and partnered  with Gawad Kalinga USA (GK-USA) which matched dollar-for-dollar the funds raised by COV 2 villages, 1 in Barangay Tabu, Dulag, Leyte and the second one in Sagbayan, Bohol.

Vice-Speaker Mizuno and COVO officials also attended the turn-over ceremony in Leyte held earlier on 19 December 2014.

Present during the turn-over ceremony in Bohol were the Mayor of Sagbayan, Ricardo Suarez, and other local officials. The beneficiaries were chosen based on strict screening procedures by the local government. The turn-over ceremony was capped by a village “kamayan” style buffet lunch that was hosted by the Mayor and laid out on bamboo tables covered with banana leaves.

Vice-Speaker Mizuno and Consul General Jamoralin also met with Bohol Governor Edgar Chatto and exchanged views on how to strengthen ties between the province and State of Hawaii and how to promote two-way trade and tourism. Governor Chatto expressed appreciation for the visit of Vice-Speaker Mizuno, Consul General Jamoralin, and COVO President May Mizuno and other COVO officers. He noted that Hawaii has been an inspiration for Bohol’s tourism sector. END