In 2013, Haiyan barreled across the Philippines and left destruction and massive loss on its path. Millions of people were affected, particularly poor communities, farmers, older persons, and persons with disabilities — those most vulnerable to extreme events such as Haiyan — and many have yet to fully recover and strengthen resilience.

Barangay Bayabas in the municipality of Dagami, Leyte, was almost flattened by strong winds. Apart from houses and structures, their livelihoods were wiped out as well.

But through humanitarian actions after Haiyan, followed by development projects, Barangay Bayabas was able to bounce back. Collective action played a big role: members of the community came together to form the Bayabas Farmers Association, which today has 64 members and four

different types of farms: communal, group, individual, and an organic learning farm. Members say their products are becoming popular.

Through these collaborative efforts, Barangay Bayabas is a community on its way to achieving a protected, diversified, and strengthened livelihood.

Disability inclusion is key in building truly inclusive and resilient communities. It requires addressing barriers that prevent persons with disabilities from engaging in community life, recognizing that these members can be active partners for meaningful change, and fostering an environment that empowers them to do just that.

In Dagami, Leyte, several locals with disabilities participated in ACCORD’s resilient livelihood program and ended up playing important roles in their communities.

Roger Ubaldo, 45 years old, a stroke survivor, had no other sources of livelihood after Typhoon Haiyan destroyed coconut trees. The different trainings on farming techniques and business management; however, helped him find alternative sources of income and he was eventually chosen to become their group’s sales distributor.

Adelaida Madalena Garsilaso, 50 years old, visually impaired since childhood, did not let her disability stop her from contributing to her community and is now a beloved teacher at Barangay Camono-an’s daycare center.

With their tenacity and strength of spirit, they broke barriers for themselves and helped their villages become more sensitive to the needs of persons with disabilities and their role in resilience building.

This document contains a compilation of key messages about Integrated Risk Management (IRM). It also includes a discussion of the resilience strengthening roles of local government units (LGUs), civil society, and community participation in IRM.

Among the cases featured are integrated solutions for Lake Manit, IRM for complex cities, nature-based solutions to coastal zone protection in the City of Tacloban and the Municipality of Palo, and the resilience of communities in Barangay Bayabas in Dagami, Leyte after the damage brought about by Typhoon Haiyan.

Read more about these stories by clicking on the link to the full document below.

View and Download Key Messages and Case Studies on Integrated Risk Management here.

Manila Bay is strategically located and used to facilitate commerce and trade with other neighboring countries. In its heyday, the bay was known for clean and blue water where people could fish and children could play along the shore. It also used to be filled with mangroves, thus capable of protecting the shore from big waves. Today, however, Manila Bay has become quite the opposite as it is mostly known for intense pollution and unsanitary water.

Due to the increasing population, many of the urban poor communities live in or near the coastal areas. Because these vulnerable populations have limited resources, many people cram into these areas and result to high-risk living conditions with the general housing of community made of only lightweight materials.

The Malabon-Navotas-Tullahan-Tinajeros or MANATUTI River System is one of the three river groups draining into Manila Bay. MANTUTI has been classified as a dead river and can no longer sustain forms of life which affect the quality of life of the fisherfolk near these bodies of water. They have to travel to distant waters in order to catch fish, hence increasing their expenses and reducing income. Aside from this, the communities who reside in areas, such as those by Manila Bay or its comprising river systems (usually informal settlers) are most prone to flooding, fire, storm surges, liquefactions, and earthquakes which are expected to be intensified in the next five to ten years due to climate change.

The Manila Bay Rehabilitation Program is simultaneously ongoing with the Manila Bay Sustainable Development Master Plan which is a joint effort of the Philippine government and the Netherlands Government. The latter serves as more of a guide on how future plans for Manila Bay will be carried out, however it is a mere guide that does not have the teeth to enforce its provisions. This is where Partners for Resilience (PfR) steps in. PfR aims to harmonize the process of planning, particularly since one main challenge of large areas such as Manila is that there are simply too many plans.

In Voices of Manila Bay, resilience-building efforts for not only the local government unit officials, but also of the community members themselves through joint and inclusive initiatives and platforms are featured. Through PfR, people from these communities, as well as members of the local government were given an opportunity to create consultations and discussions about their natural environment, their surroundings, their vulnerabilities, and their capacities in order to form a stronger mindset and clearer perspective on the situation. Eventually, this was able to inform the plans and decisions they made for community resilience.

Without PfR, many of the small but most vulnerable communities would not have any idea that there is an ongoing planning and development process for Manila Bay. Therefore, they would not have a chance to share their grievances, inputs, and aspirations about what they want for Manila Bay as the most affected population.

As a whole, this film aims to encourage a dialogue around the participation of communities and local stakeholders in large infrastructure development projects.

To see the full film, please watch the video below.