BRIDGE OF HOPE. Engineering Rambulan Team delivers 3 gallons of isopropyl alcohol and 30 sets of personal protective equipment (PPEs) to Sacred Heart Hospital in Malolos, Bulacan on April 9, 2020 as part of its bayanihan project, an outcome of the group’s fund-raising drive. PHOTO COURTESY OF Engineering Rambulan FB Page 
by Mary Rose Go
Engineers may sound as tough as steels but their hearts are as soft as foams.
Engineering Rambulan, an online Facebook group that is meant to be an entertainment avenue for staging false fight among its members while being in a lockdown, turned out to gain more attention in a cause to help the community as it raised approximately Php 1.4 million for its bayanihan project.
The fundraising started as some of the members tried to make assumptions on how much donation they would collect if each would share any amount for people affected by COVID-19.
The large number of members of Engineering Rambulan, who are either engineers or engineering students from different universities and schools, and the promotion activity of Bryant Ularte, a well-known member of the group, created a buzz that resulted to an outpouring support for the group’s fund raising drive.
From April 4 to 14, the team started to distribute a total of 84 gallons of 70% isopropyl alcohol and 1,340 sets of personal protective equipment (PPEs) to Mariveles, Bataan Local Government Unit and to 27 hospitals in NCR and neighboring provinces –
- Lung Center of the Philippines
- Philippine Children’s Medical Center
- Bagong Cainta Municipal Hospital
- Rizal Medical Center
- Manila Doctors Hospital
- UP-PGH
- San Lazaro Hospital
- Dr. Jose N. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital and Sanitarium
- Taytay Emergency Hospital
- The Medical City
- Qualimed Hospital
- Mandaluyong City Medical Center
- Bulacan Medical Center
- Sacred Heart Hospital
- National Center for Mental Health
- Las Piñas Doctors Hospital
- Ospital ng Parañaque
- Taguig-Pateros District Hospital
- Valenzuela Medical Hospital
- Southeast Asian Center
- Ospital ng Imus
- Novaliches District Hospital
- Mariveles Mental Hospital
- Bataan General Hospital
- Angeles Medical Center
- Good Samaritan Hospital
- Dr. Paulino J. Garcia MRMC
Recipients from Cainta, Rizal enjoyed the meals cooked by the group in their 8-day feeding program from April 12 to April 19. Variety of foods, from bread to rice to pancit, were served each day, feeding 375 to 500 people in a day on 5 different streets.
The group also extended help through relief packs that reached a total of 2,239 individuals in Caloocan, Bulacan, Manila, Quezon City, Las Pinas, Pasig, Paranaque, Rizal, Laguna, and Malabon.
Keeping their faith in God, Engineering Rambulan appealed to all Filipinos not to lose hope amid the pandemic.
“Sa lahat po ng mga Filipino na biktima at mga frontliners sa pandemic na ito ‘wag po tayong mawalan ng pag asa dahil hinding hindi po tayo papabayaan ng Maykapal. Laban lang po and manalangin lagi para sa kaligtasan ng ating mga pamilya. Maraming salamat po,” Engineer Renz Paolo Parungao said on behalf of the Engineering Rambulan members.
Parungao, who is the head admin of the group, further added that Engineering Rambulan would never get tired of helping people.
“Huwag po kayong mag-alala, tutulong po kami hanggang kaya namin,” Parungao said as he reassured everyone of the continuity of the group’s cause.