AT THE very end of MV de Lara Street in Nazareth village is a gaily-painted, one-storey building with a Philippine flag fluttering in the front yard. A prominent sign in front informs passers-by and visitors that the building is home to Cagayan de Oro's Intervention Center for Autism and Related Exceptionalities (iCARE).
Five years ago today, this street, a few hundred meters down Tomas Saco Street, was devastated by flood waters brought by Tropical Storm Sendong.
In the early hours of December 17, 2011, in the lot now occupied by iCARE building, stood the home of the Yrastorza family.
Like the tragedy that befell scores of Kagay-anon families, three of the four members of the Yrastorza family would perish that fateful day.
Five years hence, the lot is now home to iCARE, a center of learning for special children with special learning and development needs.
The center is owned and managed by Renato Tangonan and his wife, lawyer Isah Echem-Tangonan.
Tangonan said they bought the property from the surviving member of the Yrastorza family who had relocated to Manila even before Sendong.
He said they were sold the property after Joaquin Yrastorza, the surviving son, found out that they would build a school for special children at the site.
"Actually, there was a buyer before us, a Korean national, who wanted to buy the land to transform it into a hotel. Others also for the same purpose. But then, when we told Jake that we want to build a learning facility out of the lot, he sold it to us. Later, we knew that he chose us because [of] what we wanted to do, a school facility, is somehow related to what his parents were. They were, I believe, educators both," lawyer Isah Tangonan said.
Since February 8, 2016, the Tangonans have been giving assessment, therapy, and education to children with special needs in iCARE's center at Nazareth village. With the eight classrooms of iCARE, they provide behavior therapy programs and special education programs (Sped) to children with disorders. These children could be suffering from autism, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders (ADHD), Down's Syndrome, Speech and Language delays, and other behavior problems.
"We believe in iCARE that 'Early detection together with the right intervention is the key for children with special needs in achieving their full potential'. Because indeed, the attention given by schools to special children are indeed under rated. Most of them are just mixed to other children which results in their needs to be undetected and untreated properly," Tangonan said.
The story of iCARE's inspiration started when Tangonan was once fetching his son from school. According to him, as the classes still weren't dismissed at the time, he watched his son's class from outside. What he saw opened his eyes about the need for a center for special children here in Cagayan de Oro City.
"As I remember, the teacher was prompting my son and his classmates to an activity and the other children were responding. However, two of the kids inside the room were somehow not participating and they have their own business by themselves. That is when I realized that they are special children," Tangonan narrated.
According to Tangonan, he has been in the profession since the year 2000. He earned his Master's of Arts in Education major in Special Education degree from the University of the Philippines who proceeded to apply his expertise abroad. However, when Tangonan came back to the Philippines, he decided to put a stop to his practice.
"Truth be told, it is really a hard job to do. It is really stressful and so when I came back to the country, I resolved to maybe just stop and find another job or start another business. However, when I saw those children, my son's classmates, I told myself 'There is something I can do for them". That's when I started to do this again, Tangonan said.
And with that, he started to organize seminars about developmental and learning disorders to parents of special children. This is with the aim of giving opportunities to these parents to be knowledgeable about their children's behavior and in extension, the first step in helping these children.
"One of the very big issues in this matter is the denial of most parents. Some would try to deny the behavior of their children out of being ashamed of it or because of the negative stigma given to special children. This then leads to these children being integrated to schools that can't give them the programs that are suited to them," Tangonan said.
Sooner, after Tangonan's seminars, he began to accept single clients in their home in Xavier Heights. Aside from special children clients, some of the people who came to them are parents who wanted to know more about their child's behavior.
"The center actually started on our backyard, one child client at a time until the number grew and grew. Then we decided to officially make a center that will holistically cater the needs of these children. As we were finding our new place, that is where we found Jake Yrastorza," Tangonan added.
Today, iCARE has a faculty of 22 teachers and is teaching 80 students. Tangonan said that their students' ages ranges from as young as one and a half to about fifteen and who comes from as far as Butuan and Davao.
"I think that it is important that a facility such as this is open here in Cagayan de Oro because these children deserve the right to learn and to be taught the way they should be," he said.
For the future, Tangonan hopes to put up a livelihood class wherein the children could learn skills that can help them earn.
"There are some of our students who, after their therapies, are already qualified to study in mainstream schools. Because that is what we are also trying to do for them, to make them ready for the outside world. That is why, for the next few years we plan on teaching our students any livelihood skill that is suitable to their capabilities so that they can also compete," he said.
For the fifth year commemoration of the city's experience with Typhoon Sendong, Balay Mindanaw, one of the organizations who responded to the needs of the victims forwarded the line: "We refuse to be victims, we choose to be resources." This is to motivate everyone such as the survivors, the local government unit, the stakeholders, and all other parts of the community to continue the healing caused by Sendong.
Such is what happened to the house at the end of a quiet street a few hundred meters down Tomas Saco Street.
Looking down at the goings on at their former home, the Yrastorzas, surely would have approved.