Ni Josephine Badilla

Kasalukuyang Presidente ng Plaridel Livelihood Entrepreneur’s Association (PLEA) isang organisasyon ng maliliit na magsasaka sa Barangay Plaridel, Dagami, Leyte

Nobyembre 25, 2015

 

Dalawang istruktura nalang ang nakatayo sa barangay, lahat ay nakadapa na at nasira. Ganito ang itsura ng barangay Plaridel, Dagami ng manalasa ang bagyong Yolanda. Nang humupa ang malakas na hangin at ulan, natunghayan namin ang nasirang mga bahay at kabuhayan. Ang bukid na dati ay puno ng pananim na niyog at bungang kahoy ngayon ay wala na. Halos mawalan kami ng pag-asa. Paano na kaya kami mabubuhay? May tutulong kaya sa amin?

Walang grupo ng livelihood sa barangay namin bago mag-Yolanda.  Kanya-kanya lang kami sa pamumuhay. Ang mga alagang hayop gaya ng baboy ay nakagala lang sa sentro ng barangay dahil wala namang pananim na masisira. Dati ay nagtatanim kami ng mais at ito ang pangunahing kinakain. Pero buhat ng dumami ang mga niyog ay unti-unting nawala ang pagtatanim ng mais. Kaya laking panlulumo namin ng halos lahat ng niyog ay natumba. Wala na kaming mapagkukunan para pambili ng bigas at iba pang pangangailangan. Sa kabila ng panghihina ng loob pagkatapos ng Yolanda nakita namin na kailangang magtulungan para mapabilis ang aming pagbangon. Kailangan naming magtanim muli, kung hindi kami magtatanim kami din naman ang magugutom. Hindi naman tinangay ng bagyo ang lupa. Nandiyan pa din ito, kailangan lang ang dobleng pagsisikap. Isa ako sa naghikayat sa aming mga kapitbahay na bungkalin ang lupa at magtanim muli upang may makain pagkatapos ng ilang buwan. Nabuhayan kami ng loob pagkatapos ng ilang linggo pagdating ng tulong sa aming barangay. Marami at iba-iba ang dumating na may dalang tulong. Pero naiiba ang ACCORD at CARE. Ihinahalintulad ko ang pagdating nila kagaya ng sa dalawang ibon na dumako sa aming barangay. Dala nila ang pag-asa upang kami ay makabangon muli. 

Ang pera na ibinigay sa livelihood ay ibinili ko ng baboy. Ngayon ay nakapanganak at nakapagbenta na ako ng mga biik. Nagtanim din kami ng mga kamote, kamoteng kahoy at gulay. Napawi ang aming pangamba sa araw-araw dahil may sigurado na kaming magpagkukunan ng pagkain. 

Sa Phase 2 ng livelihood ay nagbuo kami sa barangay ng 6 na grupo. Ang nakuha naming indibidwal na tulong ay pinagsama-sama. Kada grupo ay bumili ng kalabaw, arado, suyod, pala, bara at sprayer. Bawat isang pamilya ay bumili rin ng sariling sundang (bolo). Ang mga gamit na ito ay nagpapabilis ng gawa namin sa pagsasaka.  Ang mga kalabaw ay nag-aararo sa mga personal at komunal na mga sakahan namin. Habang ang iba pang kalabaw naman ay pinanghahakot ng mga kahoy na nakakadagdag sa kita namin.  Mula sa pinagsama-samang pera, naglaan din ng pera ang bawat grupo upang makabili ng binhi ng upland rice. May indibidwal at grupo na nagtanim nito. 

Bago sa amin ang upland rice. Tuwang-tuwa kami ng makapag harvest kami.  Nakapagtabi na din kami ng binhi para sa susunod na taniman. Sa kasalukuyan, mga root crops muna ang itinanim dahil sa  maulan ngayon. Nagbatay kami sa seasonal calendar na nagawa sa Disaster Preparedness Training ng ACCORD. Wala na ring gumagala na baboy ngayon sa barangay dahil lahat ay may tanim na. 

Ngunit hindi kami tumigil sa aming pangarap. Lahat ng oportunidad at mga hamon ay hinarap namin. Gusto namin na magtagal ang proyekto at pinag-isipan namin ng husto kung paano ito maisakatuparan. Dama namin na ang pangunahing pangangailangan namin ay pagkain. Kailangan namin ng bigas, ang pwedeng tumubo sa mabundok naming lugar ay mais.  Kaso walang gilingan. Kaya naisip namin na gawing proyekto ang pagtayo ng gilingan ng mais. Malawak ang aabutin na serbisyo ng corn mill. Hindi lamang ito para sa amin. Maging ang ibang barangay ay pwedeng makinabang dito. 

Dahil sa kagustuhang lalo pang gumanda ang aming pamumuhay, nagsunod-sunod ang mga meeting kasama ang mga myembro, nagpaliwanagan at nagkumbinsihan hanggang sa umabot sa pinal na desisyon na corn mill na ang magiging proyekto namin para sa pangatlong yugto ng livelihood project – ang Community Enterprise Facility (CEF). 

Walang may kaalaman sa amin sa pagtayo at pagpatakbo ng corn mill. Nakita namin ang pangangailangan na mag-aral at matuto upang magkaroon ng kaalaman. Pinuntahan naming ang mga proyekto ng ACCORD sa iba’t ibang bayan na may corn mill para pag-aralan. Kasabay ng pagbuo ng desisyon ay ang pormal din na pag rehistro ng aming grupo bilang asosasyon. Hindi naging madali ang pagbuo ng grupo. Iba-iba ang gusto ng mga tao. Malaking tulong ang pagkakaroon ng malawak na pang-unawa at maayos na pagpapaliwanag sa mga myembro.Sa pamamagitan nito nabuksan ang pananaw ng mga tao at nagkaroon ng pagkakaisa. Ang tingin pa namin ay may kakulangan din kami sa karunungan. Sa mga karanasan lamang kami natuto. 

Tunay ngang nakakapagod pero kapag ang iniisip ay hindi lang para sa sarili kundi ang kapakanan din ng iba, nawawala ang kapaguran ko. Kailangang makinig sa sinasabi ng bawat myembro, pag aralan ang kanilang mga mungkahi at ikumpara ang resulta. Sa organisasyon ay mahalagang matuto kang maki-isa. Kung ano ang pinaka maayos na karanasan ay ito ang dapat mangibabaw. Nagkasundo kami sa grupo na magbayad ng membership fee na P100 bawat myembro at monthly dues na P10. Ang perang nalikom ay ginamit sa pamasahe, photocopy at iba pang gastos ng asosasyon habang naglalakad ng mga papeles. Kung nagkakaproblema din ang myembro dito rin kami kumukuha ng ipapahiram. Layunin nito na may magagamit kaagad ang myembro sa panahon ng kagipitan.

(Ipinarehistro ang Plaridel Livelihood Entrepreneur’s Association (PLEA), ang kanilang asosayon sa DOLE noong Abril ng taong ito upang maging isang pormal na organisasyon na may napapanghawakang papel.) 

Mahirap ang pagparehistro sa DOLE. Malayo ang opisina, sa Tacloban pa. Pabalik-balik kami bitbit ang mga papeles. May nag-alok pa saamin na pwedeng maging fixer sa pag ayos ng papeles namin pero may bayad. Hindi kami pumayag, nagtiyaga kami na mag follow-up dahil gusto naman din naming matuto. 

Sa paglakad ng aming papeles, natuwa kami sa abogadong nag-notaryo para sa min sa DOLE.  Hindi niya pinabayaran ang pagnotaryo niya dahil naintindihan niya ang halaga ng ginagawa namin.  Pinayuhan pa niya kami na pagbutihin ang aming ginagawa. Naging hamon ito sa amin na kahit hindi namin kilala ay sumusuporta sa aming ginagawa.  

Ang aming pagkakaisa at pagbuo ng asosasyon o grupo mula sa dating kanya-kanya ay siyang naging gabay namin para makamit ang ganap na pagbangon. Masaya kaming pinapanday ang maliwanag na umaga para sa aming pamilya at komunidad. 

Darating ang panahon na ang mga anak naman namin ang magpapatakbo ng asosasyon at mas mapapalago pa nila ito dahil nagsimula na kaming turuan sila mula sa aming karanasan. Sila ngayon ay nakakapag-aral na ding muli dahil may kakayahan na rin kahit paano.  Gusto rin naming mangyari na sa panahon na may mangangailangan ng kanilang tulong ay makapagbigay din kami. ***

Dahil sa magandang simulain ng kanilang proyekto, at sa magandang pagtutulungang ipinamalas ng mga miyembro, ang samahan ng mga maliliit na magsasaka sa Bgy. Plaridel ay tiyak na magtagumpay at  maipagpatuloy hanggang sa sunod na henerasyon.  

 

To view and download a copy of this story, please click here.

(Lifted from the book “Safe, Resilient Communities: The ACCORD Model”, published by Accord Inc., 2011)

 

In 2007, eight women – mostly mothers – assembled in the ACCORD office that fateful June morning for the first-ever training for community facilitators in Saint Bernard. It was unforgettable. Of the 25 individuals invited, only eight showed up. 

They all looked a bit unsure and quiet after realizing there were only eight of them. Most of those who backed-out had issues regarding honorarium which they claimed was a customary practice of other NGOs but which was not the case for ACCORD. When the project staff decided to push through with the training, despite the majority backing out, the remaining eight stayed throughout the 5-day training. They were all women – a grandmother, two teachers, a church worker, a barangay nutrition volunteer, a daycare worker, a community member, and a college student. Seven were mothers who stuck it out till the last day. Four years later, of the eight, six stayed on and are still active in varying levels. The other two are still around but not as active. Of the six, two stood out to become more than what was expected of them.

Anna was one of them, 46 years old, mother of five and a daycare worker for 20 years. She was one of the more ebullient trainees-CFs. She would giggle every time she mispronounced some words and was so unsure of herself during her first practice-teaching experience. 

Today, Anna can discuss almost all of the sessions of the different training modules of ACCORD. She has gained confidence by using good examples from the community’s experience to clearly explain DRR concepts. She has also helped translate to Bisaya the session plans. Now, her name is synonymous to “DRR expert” in her barangay. 

She’s not all that, she has also gone places. Anna is part of the training team in Saint Bernard who would go out of their way to conduct DRR trainings in the island of Limasawa. Through her and other CFs, Saint Bernard has replicated the ACCORD project within its municipality. The same is true with other municipalities which requested assistance for DRR. 

In June this year, she attended a Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)-UNICEF regional training in Bacolod. The training focused on RA 10121 or the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010, climate change adaptation, supervising and managing children affected by disasters. In that conference, she was regarded as a DRR community advocate and a resource person on community-based DRR. Among other daycare workers in the whole province of Southern Leyte and in her community, she was the one asked to help the DSWD in re-echoing the conference on DRR. 

She strongly believes that the ACCORD project needs to expand other barangays and other municipalities because people need help to reduce their vulnerabilities against frequent hazards. She knows of neighbouring municipalities who know nothing of DRR but also want to learn. When she was informed that the project can no longer be extended, she took the challenge of taking the task of replicating and sharing the ACCORD experience. 

She said she has learned so much from her involvement with the project, and the experience has changed her as a person. Because she has gained so much knowledge and experience from the project, she feels it is also her obligation to share this through trainings which she believes can change lives for the better.

Ronnie, mother of two and former barangay nutrition volunteer, was also one of those who stayed. Though known as the silent one, she exuded the strength of a woman one can rely on. She demonstrated how much she is willing to contribute for a cause. She was one of four barangay nutrition volunteers, with all four sharing the P450/month honorarium for the position of nutrition specialist. But she was replaced as a nutrition volunteer in December 2010 by their Barangay Captain allegedly due to political differences. 

During her first practice-teaching, she stood in front like a block of ice-cold and stiff. She could not stop crying during the first training, as she remembered the deadly Guinsaugon landslide which she fears might happen again anytime. 

From then on, Ronnie has learned so much by helping conduct training in different barangays. She said that knowing about the situation has helped her overcome her fears, realizing that the community can do something to reduce its vulnerabilities. 

Today she thinks that being a CF has made her somewhat of a community organizer. She has taken it upon herself to continuously be of service to her kababaryos by explaining and helping them understand what she has learned about DRR. She feels the need for them to understand DRR and so has helped in translating the training modules to Bisaya. 

Ronnie looks at herself as a community educator. She willingly and tirelessly shares everything that she has learned from the project through the conduct of training courses in their municipality, going as far as the municipality of Limasawa. 

Ronnie and Anna, and many more of their kind in the different project areas, are among those who have selflessly devoted time and effort to be part of the journey to change the lives of other equally poor people in vulnerable communities. Ronnie is happy that she can serve her community through DRR; earlier, she thought she had to be a nutrition volunteer to be able to serve. She sums up the idea of what they as CFs have become by saying they have served as ‘tulay’ or bridges of the project to their communities. Now it’s time to help build more bridges so that other communities like Limasawa can become more resilient. 

 

View and download a PDF version of this article here.

(Lifted from the book “Safe, Resilient Communities: The ACCORD Model”, published by ACCORD Inc., 2011) 

 

In Bontoc and other parts of Mountain Province, the spirit of community cooperation still prevails. Community members work together in planting or harvesting in one’s ricefield, moving to another member’s ricefield the next day, until all the ob-obbo members’ ricefields are either planted or harvested. The tradition of ob-obbo is also applied to construction of houses. The Dalican tribe practiced ob-obbo when they constructed their semi-permanent shelters in locations safer from landslides. 

Dalican is a remote barangay of Bontoc, the capital town of Mountain Province. Dalican also refers to the tribe that inhabits Barangay Dalican. Despite being a barangay of the capital town, Dalican is not easily accessible because construction of the road leading to it was left unfinished. After Typhoon Pepeng ravaged the Cordilleras in 2009, the dalican tribe was again confronted with the specter of a massive landslide. The main settlement area of the barangay is located on top of a sliding mountain slope. The lowest portion of the settlement area is very near a ravine and is in grave danger of slope failure. 

Fifty households from landslide-prone areas in Dalican, Bontoc now own new homes (in orange) constructed thru “ob-obbo.”

For several years now, the community, with the help of the Cordillera Disaster Response and Development Services, has a working disaster preparedness plan in place. The plan’s main feature is for the systematic evacuation of women and children from houses in the extremely high-risk locations to safer ground when rainfall reaches an alarming level. The men stay behind to monitor the movement of the slope. 

Despite the plan in place, community members still spend sleepless nights during the typhoons or prolonged heavy rainfall. Thus, the decision to move to a safer location was finally taken after Pepeng. Relocation was a desired but difficult option for the people. Difficult not only because of the financial cost it will entail but also in terms of labour and the trees that need to be felled from their communal forest. 

The Dalican Ato Federation (DAF), a federation of four ato, led the community in the construction of semi-permanent houses in the relocation site. An ato is a socio-cultural and political structure where the tribal elders meet to decide on community matters, such as the declaration of the timing of rituals, and of activities linked to the agricultural cycle. Vicente Manerwap, or Ama Manerwap, as he is fondly called in Dalican, is the tireless leader of DAF and one of the elders in the community. When it comes to his tribe’s welfare, he is relentless and is ever active. 

The Dalican Ato Federation, through Ama Manerwap’s leadership, worked closely with the barangay and took on various responsibilities to ensure that the enormous task of relocation will materialize. DAF made representations in behalf tribe, while the provincial chapter of the Cordillera People’s Alliance in Mountain Province provided technical assistance to address their barangay’s vulnerability to landslides. They also approached the CorDis RDS for assistance. 

When ACCORD Inc., CorDis RDS and CARE Nederland agreed to collaborate in a humanitarian response project, the request of DAF was included under the semi-permanent shelter component of the Philippine Tropical Cyclones 2009 Shelter and Livelihood Recovery Project (PTCSLRP). The 12-month shelter project was realized, though not easily and smoothly, but with important lessons gained. 

The Dalican project had to surmount serious challenges in the course of implementation. More than 200 houses needed to be relocated and the risk assessment conducted with assistance from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau actually identified 70 houses within an imminent danger zone. The PTCSLRP, however, could only finance the construction of 50 houses. 

Through DAF’s mediation, the community has agreed that, in principle, all houses will eventually be relocated. Not one will be left behind. However, relocation will be done by batches. Those who are first to become ready for construction shall be prioritized for the 50 slots already available. All the 70 households listed in the high-risk zone shall be given the right to first access to the timberland of the tribe. Meanwhile, DAF will lobby for the possibility of additional units to be funded by the Project and/or from other sources. 

Prioritizing 50 out of more than 200 households was not an easy task. However, with the people organized and their leadership competent and inspiring, Dalican worked as one in the goal of establishing a safer settlement. 

The community also wanted to take this once in a lifetime opportunity to have a house designed and built in accordance with indigenous architecture practices, for a budget of PhP 80,000 per semi-permanent shelter. With the guidance of the Ato Federation, the communities decided that the financial assistance from the Project will be used mainly for the purchase of GI sheets and other hardware, and materials for lumbering. Lumber, lumbering and construction were contributions by the Project’s direct beneficiaries.

The semi-permanent shelters were designed as wooden structures that used pine lumber. The main structural components of the design are the wooden posts or columns which served as the vertical support; the wooden beams as support  in the ground level; the girders as reinforcement on the second floor level; and the girt on top of the house which then strengthened the roof framing component. These are the horizontal components of the structure that essentially ensure the structural integrity of the construction design of the core shelters. 

The wooden posts are not rigidly fastened to concrete foundations but rest instead on a carefully chosen stone being placed firmly on the ground. In contrast, in lowland and urban areas, the posts are rigidly attached to a concreted foundation and fastened by the use of a steel strap. 

The use of the stone, instead of concrete foundations, is considered the best structural design adapted to earthquake and minor landslide events. Combined with framing from bottom to the top, the shelters are better able to withstand earthquakes. The magnitude 7.8 earthquake of July 1990 proved the integrity of this indigenous structural design. It was observed that the houses that applied indigenous architectural practices were intact. This type of construction design has also proven to be effective in minor landslides because the horizontal support is rigidly framed, making the structure intact even if one post was already hanging due to the slide. 

The shelters can also better withstand tropical cyclones because of the rigid framing that characterizes the structural design. The rigid framing of the beams, girders and girts fastened to the wooden post enable the whole structure to resist wind shear. The topography of the area, and the specific location selected for the construction of the shelters also contribute to the riskproofing of the shelters, according to local people. The people of Dalican claim that no structures have been destroyed by tropical cyclones in their village because of their indigenous architectural practices. 

Gathering the construction materials took a lot of diligence and perseverance amongst community members. The community relied on their traditional practice of obobbo, where the whole community volunteers to help in the various tasks of constructing houses in safer locations. Lumber was hauled by the people on foot from the timberlands which are 2.5 kms. (the nearest) and 4 kms. away (farthest location) to the settlement area. The whole community, not only members of the first 50 household beneficiaries, participated making it look like lumbers were walking their way home as you view them coming down the hill. 

This was how it similarly looked during the deliveries of materials purchased in the city. Coloured Gl sheets were seen slowly creeping their way to the site, about 2.5 kilometers from the road. Roofings and sidings were made of pre-painted Gl sheets. There were days when work was not done with the setting of the sun. After dinner, community members would gather for the community based disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation training, or for the regular meetings to check on the progress of implementation.

After the construction of houses, the community members immediately attended to the implementation of small-scale mitigation activities recommended by the geo-hazard assessment conducted by the MGB. 

What made the Dalican experience possible? Key was the presence of an active and cohesive people’s organization, led by a strong and principled leadership, and guided by aspirations of equity and social justice as the foundation for community resilience. Building on indigenous institutions, practices and norms, and combining these with available scientific knowledge, was also an important factor. These are essential features of humanitarian response and disaster risk reduction that applies community-based and rights-based approaches. 

 

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Originally Written: June 18, 2013

From the town proper of Bokod in Benguet, Sitio Cobabeng can be reached after an hour’s drive in a 4×4 pick–up. After passing the Ambuklao Dam, the paved highway will lead to a dirt road marked by deep ruts that ordinary vehicles won’t be able to negotiate. Scars of earlier landslides are evident in many places along the road, all the way to Sitio Cobabeng. 

Moving from one sitio to another in order to cover the whole barangay is a challenge. Barangay Poblacion is one of five Bokod barangays participating in the Partners for Resilience project. The distance and travel time from Cobabeng to Mangagew illustrates the challenges the staff of CorDisRDS have to face regularly to implement disaster risk reduction that incorporates climate change adaptation and ecosystem management and restoration in five barangays in Bokod municipality. In many instances, PfR staff having no service vehicle, have to hike for hours in order to reach these communities, like during days when the roads are not passable even to 4×4 vehicles. 

Sitio Cobabeng is one of eight sitios that comprise Barangay Poblacion. Another sitio of Barangay Poblacion is Sitio Mangagew, which can be reached from Cobabeng after more than an hour‘s drive. During rainy season, even 4×4 pick-ups would not be able to negotiate the deeply rutted dirt road to Mangagew. Being parts of the Poblacion, or the town centre, one is given the impression that the sitios are more accessible. They are not.

Sitio Cobabeng is an unofficial resettlement site. Residents moved to their present location after landslides hit their original settlement during the July 1990 earthquake. In 2009, the livelihood assets of Sitio Cobabeng residents sustained serious damage from four tropical cyclones that hit the country in one month: Ketsana, Parma, Melor and Lupit (local names Ondoy, Pepeng, Quedan and Ramil, respectively). For two weeks, they were also isolated because of numerous landslides that blocked the road to the community.

 

“With better understanding, we are now more confident in the decisions and actions that we take.”

Sitio Cobabeng was one of the locations where the Philippine Tropical Cyclone Emergency Response project (PTC-1) and the Philippine Tropical Cyclones 2009 Shelter and Livelihood Recovery Project (PTC-2) were implemented with support from the European Commission Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO). In PTC-1, community residents received food-for–work (FFW) assistance. With the food distribution, community members opened and cleared the road of landslide debris, restoring vital access to their community. Community members also decided to redistribute some of the food assistance they received in order to start a community-owned rice retail store.

During PTC-2, Sitio Cobabeng residents were supported in establishing their small–scale mining enterprise. The decision to support the enterprise was taken after a series of discussions on the sustainability, including environmental sustainability, of such enterprise. The enterprise was designed to apply traditional small-scale mining methods. Traditional methods do not use chemicals in processing. Less mechanization is involved. Tunnels are dug instead of the very destructive open–pit mines. The impact on the environment is there much less compared to that of non-traditional mining activities. 

A start–up capital was also provided to enable to community to consolidate purchases of the gold produced so that community members will not have to deal with middlemen and intermediaries. 

Three years after, during a monitoring visit for the PfR, community members proudly relate that they are able to sustain the operations of their enterprise, and that they are enjoying various benefits from it: 

Asked about the single most significant change that they have experienced since the CorDisRDS worked with the community in 2009, Martina Wakit, a woman leader of the people‘s organization said: “In the past, our understanding of various events and phenomena (mga bagay-bagay) are fragmented and limited. We are now able to understand them better and how they are linked to one another. With better understanding, we are now more confident in the decisions and actions that we take.”

 

View and download a PDF version of this article here.

By Celso Dulce

Originally Written: December 10, 2012

 

I did not expect the sight that greeted us when we reached barangay Langaon. Men and women, including some elderly were repairing the hanging bridge known as Kalawahig-1. Some were erecting two concrete posts where steel cables of the bridge will be re-anchored. Some were replacing the wooden planks. Some were gathering rocks from the riverbed and piling them into an embankment that will strengthen the bridge’s foundation. Two days ago, we were informed that the bridge was washed out by a flashflood spawned by Typhoon Pablo (Bopha).

Typhoon Sendong (Washi) damaged the Kalawahig-1 suspension bridge that connects barangay Langaon to “the outside world.” The bridge was in a state of disrepair prior to Sendong, in the first place. The flooring is made of bamboo. The sides are unprotected and anybody, but most especially children, could easily fall into the river. The bridge was in urgent need of repair as the community could not bring their farm produce to the market, could not safely access relief assistance and basic services, and could not bring in basic commodities. 

In March 2012, CARE worked with the community to undertake minor repair of the bridge, as part of the cash-for-work activity. Cyclone wires were installed on the sides of the bridge to prevent people from falling into the river. 

Rotting bamboo were replaced to strengthen the flooring. Community members were jubilant, feeling safer as they cross the bridge everyday, to go to the market, and in general to do business with the outside world.

A follow-up CARE emergency response project provided another opportunity to further strengthen the bridge. Building on the initiative of a local NGO, Green Mindanao, which constructed a concrete foundation for a new bridge. CARE provided thick steel cables, wooden planks, cyclone wire, nuts and bolts, and other materials to complete the bridge through another cash-for-work activity. In August 2012, the new bridge was completed. I visited Langaon on 24 November 2012 and saw not only people crossing the bridge but even motorbikes laden with produce. The bridge was affording people safe access to goods and basic services. It was also encouraging people to increase agricultural production and livelihood activities as the people can now safely transport farm inputs and farm produce. 

On 5 December 2012, I was informed that barangay Langaon lost its hanging bridge to a big flashflood triggered by typhoon Pablo. The news was very difficult to accept. According to Langaon residents, Ugiaban Bridge one kilometer upstream got clogged and formed a temporary dam. When this temporary dam burst, it unleashed a huge wall of water that reached up to the Kalawahig-1’s flooring. The residents of Langaon watched helplessly as a huge wall of water washed away their bridge. The Kalawahig-1 was built substantially higher than the original precisely to prevent it from being overtopped by floodwaters. 

The Langaon community was able to retrieve all the bridge’s materials – the steel cables, the wooden planks, the nuts and bolts, the cyclone wires. With their meager resources, and without waiting for external assistance, the community started rebuilding their bridge. We were talking with some community members when Barangay Chairman Martin Tanio arrived, bringing with him perhaps two kilograms of tie wire I did not ask, but I had a very strong suspicion that it was the most that they could afford, having earlier bought already a few bags of cement and a few pieces steel reinforcement bars. 

Kalawahig-1 was built through a project partnership amongst CARE, ACCORD and RMP, with funding support from the European Commission Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO), AXA Philippines and Metrobank Foundation. Barangay Langaon is in Baungon municipality, Bukidnon province. 

Driving back to Cagayan de Oro, my colleague Athena was saying that we were not mistaken sticking it out with the people and the leaders of Langaon. Langaon demonstrates the indomitable spirit of the poor and vulnerable, who aspire to make their communities more resilient.

 

View and download a PDF version of this article here.

A couple of years ago, the Philippines made headlines around the world as Typhoon Haiyan, the strongest storm recorded, smashed ashore and tore through the Visayas. Within 24 hours, Haiyan battered and wiped out almost everything along its path, leaving behind its wake millions of people homeless, and thousands lifeless. The full document details how communities were slowly starting to reap the sowed resilience two years after the typhoon.

While the scale and strength of Haiyan is unprecedented even in a disaster-prone country as the Philippines, disasters like this are becoming more frequent, destructive, and unpredictable as a result of climate change and ecosystem degradation. Disaster upon disaster, vulnerable communities are pushed deeper into poverty. They are ones who face the vicious cycle of destruction and reconstruction. Their vulnerabilities are magnified, and their developments stalled. It is therefore not enough for communities to recover from Haiyan’s destruction. They must be able to withstand, adapt to, and recover from disasters. It is imperative that they start rebuilding towards resilience.

In the immediate aftermath of Haiyan, ACCORD in partnership with CARE, drew opportunities from lessons brought by Haiyan to cultivate resilience. From the onset, seeds of resilience were sown where possible, both in the form of material assistance and building local capacities, and embedded in integrated response, recovery, rehabilitation, and risk reduction programmes for Haiyan-affected areas.

Two years on, much remains to be done, but vulnerable communities are beginning to reap the fruits of resilience.

 

View, read, and download the full document here.

Excerpt: Foreword

The core of our mission is to save and preserve lives. One of the ways to do so effectively is to empower people and communities as well as governments, when feasible, to be better prepared on how to respond and protect themselves in the face of crises. Preparedness for response is a critical element for resilience. And the earlier and the more local a response is, the more effectively it can save lives.

DG ECHO has supported capacity building in preparedness for response for over two decades through dedicated actions and funding. As the sample of so many different experiences in this compendium demonstrates, the variety of our work has been significant – from strengthening mechanisms to alert the population if a cyclone is approaching, to promoting people’s awareness on hygiene measures to prevent the spread of communicable diseases or strengthening the capacity of local authorities to assist people in displacement due to a disaster or conflict.

Through the years, our work has continuously adjusted to the evolving nature of the crises and the needs they generate, preparing to respond to natural hazards but also to violence stemming out of conflict or social tensions. Moreover, as climate change is increasing the severity and frequency of extreme weather events, DG ECHO is increasingly promoting ways of working that help anticipate these events – thus allowing to act earlier, before a disaster happens save more lives and increase resilience.

We have learned and achieved a lot in our long engagement in preparedness, since the start of the Disaster Preparedness (DIPECHO) programme in 1996 until now. We want to build on this experience to increase the coherence, effectiveness and timeliness of our work in preparedness. We want to better address emerging risks from climate, fragility and conflict and fully embed preparedness in our humanitarian mandate. It is in this spirit that DG ECHO is currently renewing its approach to preparedness that will consolidate in a new guidance as of 2021.

Let me conclude by saying that we could not save lives without our partners. Our gratitude goes to them for tirelessly working to put all this in practice and propose innovative solutions. We look forward to continuing our cooperation for a world that is better prepared and hence, more resilient.

Ms Paraskevi Michou
Director General
DG ECHO

The compendium features a relevant collection of stories of or relating to disaster preparedness programs and innovations. The Moving Urban Poor Communities Toward Resilience (MOVE UP) Philippines Project, a constant Resilience and Knowledge Exchange Series (RKES) collaborator and partner, was also highlighted in the compendium. Moreover, the document includes stories and cases from but not limited to Kenya, Mozambique, Niger, Yemen, and Bhutan.

 

Read and download the full document here.

“Philippines – Increasing Resilience to Natural Hazards” or “INCREASE” aims to aims to increase the resilience of 45,00 women and men small scale farmers and fishers, including 720 extremely poor female-headed households, to natural hazards and the effect of climate change. INCREASE will run from 2019-2021 in different parts of the Philippines.

INCREASE will be working with 36 barangays across 8 municipalities in the provinces of Mt. Province, Cagayan, Northern Samar, and Surigao del Sur. These barangays are among the most vulnerable communities that are the first to be impacted by strong rain and typhoons along the east coast of the Philippines. These communities share the same landscape – upland, riverline, coastal – building on the landscape approach of the project.

View and download the full briefer here. 

Humanitarian actors around the world are becoming overwhelmed with increasingly destructive, complex, and chronic disasters. Globally, more than 200 million people are affected by natural disasters every year, with those living in low-income countries being three times as much affected as those in high-income nations. Just as people are recovering from one disaster, another one comes along, setting back humanitarian response and development gain. This setback can be avoided by humanitarian assistance and strengthening resilience.

 

Watch the full video below:

 

You may also learn more about CARE Netherlands by accessing their website here. 

by Liza Hoefnagels

Excerpt: Extensive summary

This study was commissioned to analyse development programs in an urban context in order to identify key principles for future programs on urban resilience building. The study focused on the experiences of development practitioners working in an urban context. The methods of analysis included a context analysis and program analysis to identify urban context characteristics, good practices and lessons learned from experiences of practitioners who work within the CARE International foundation. Furthermore, this study contains a SWOT analysis on the Integrated Risk Management (IRM) programs in the Philippines to identify which characteristics of the IRM approach contributes to urban resilience. Lastly, a comparison was made between the general experiences of development practitioners working in an urban context and the SWOT outcomes. Which was used to develop a set of key principles, providing a way for development programs to increase resilience in an urban context, especially for the urban poor. 

The study highlights the impact of the high population density of urban areas. These populated areas consist of highly diverse communities, who have very diverse livelihood strategies, needs and vulnerabilities. Land shortage is a common problem in urban areas, and many practitioner indicated that as a result, they faced challenges with resilience building due to land right, trust and power relations issues. Furthermore, operating in an urban area can be challenging due to the variety of actors and interests, integrated urban systems and dynamics and the multi-faceted risks. Another characteristic of poor communities in urban areas is that they are ‘time poor’ because they have to find new sources of livelihood on a daily basis. This makes it difficult to involve urban poor people in resilience trainings and workshops.

However, it was found that the urban context provides many opportunities for resilience building, if the right practices are used by development organisations. As a result of the analysed good practices, lessons learned, strengths and weaknesses from the experience of practitioners, the following key principles were identified and recommended for future development programs on urban resilience:

• Be flexible
• Support local ideas and use local systems
• Identify and empower champions within each stakeholder group
• Develop a holistic approach
• Promote collaboration
• Involve the private sector
• Organise the community
• Create platforms for dialogue
• Invest time in an extensive context analysis

Furthermore, the IRM approach, which was developed for and until now mostly used in rural areas, has proven to have a positive contribution in urban resilience building because it integrates disciplines, focuses on both short term risks and long term change, recognizes multiple scales and invests in an extensive context analysis. However, there are still some concerns about how to define the urban ecosystem and integrate all the facets of the IRM approach in short term programs. Lastly, the researcher recommends that non-government organisations develop an overall strategy on how they want to and can contribute to urban resilience. This strategy should be specific on which facets of urban resilience it focuses on as well as embracing the expertise of the organisation. The ‘five Ws of urban resilience’ can be a useful tool to develop a strategy in such a way.

 

View and download the full document here.