Recovering from the
consequences of armed conflicts and natural disasters
By ICRC
February 23, 2015
MANILA Many
residents in the province of Samar are struggling to cope with the
consequences of protracted armed conflicts, compounded by powerful
typhoons that have hit this underdeveloped area of central Philippines
in recent years.
Merita Dacutanan, who
depends on planting rice and corn to feed her family, finds life to be
very difficult. "Sometimes it is unsafe to go into farming because of
sporadic firefights," the 55-year-old farmer from Cataydongan village,
in the municipality of San Jose de Buan, said. "Life gets even harder
when we are battered by a typhoon.
In December last year,
typhoons such as Hagupit, locally known as Ruby, brought strong winds
and dumped torrential rains on Samar and other provinces of central
Philippines, damaging crops and other sources of livelihood.
In Samar, the vast majority
some say at least 90 percent of the population is involved in
farming. Rice, vegetables and coconut are the principal products grown
in this part of central Philippines.
Poverty and food insecurity
push the residents to the margins of society. Responding to these
needs, the ICRC and the Philippine Red Cross assisted 388 families in
four villages of San Jose de Buan Can-aponte, Cataydongan, Hagbay
and San Nicolas in January this year. The residents received
vegetable seed, fertilizer, agricultural tools such as back-pack
sprayers and machetes, and cash incentives.
"The assistance programme is
intended to support the livelihoods of the people in these communities
and improve their overall farm productivity," said Sabine Gralla, head
of the ICRC's office in Tacloban.
Generating more income
Dacutanan, a recipient of
vegetable seed and agricultural hand tools, said the assistance will
help her family get their feet back on the ground: "Our lives will
improve and become normal again because we can generate more income."
Meanwhile, Dacutanan receives financial support from the ICRC so she
can regularly visit her brother detained in Catbalogan Provincial Jail
in connection with the armed conflict.
Marciano Babatyo, 70, a
resident of Can-aponte village, obtained a cash incentive that will be
used to purchase swine. He explained that livestock raising will pave
the way to earning more income so he can help his youngest son finish
school. "This assistance is such a big help," said Marciano.
Aimed at enhancing
livelihoods, the ICRC projects in these communities are based on a
community participatory approach. The beneficiaries are involved in
identifying and designing the assistance and are placed at the heart
of the decision-making process.
"The farmers were asked to
decide what activities they wanted to pursue such as swine raising
or vegetable planting as well as the resources they needed, and to
propose ideas on how to make their resources or tools sustainable in
the long term," ICRC agronomist Marcos Bollido explained.
Signs of resilience
Although many of their
livelihoods and properties were destroyed in December last year,
residents have shown resilience and remain empowered to restore their
self-sufficiency.
Merlina Pacimos, 47, another
Can-aponte village resident, said the quality of the seed and the
agricultural hand tools she and her husband received will allow them
to have a fresh start after Typhoon Hagupit destroyed all their crops
and damaged their house.
"The earnings from the
vegetable harvest will go towards eventually rebuilding our partially
damaged house," Merlina said. "We will work hard to survive the
challenge."
Aside from providing
livelihood support to communities in various parts of the Philippines,
the ICRC, a neutral and independent humanitarian organization whose
mandate is to protect and assist victims of armed conflict and other
situations of violence, also visits detainees and promotes compliance
with international humanitarian law.
The ICRC has been working in
the Philippines for over 60 years, with a permanent presence since
1982. It has offices in Manila, Visayas (Bacolod, Catarman, Marabut
and Tacloban), and Mindanao (Bislig, Cotabato, Davao and Zamboanga).