Help Filipino Communities Prepare for Disaster

Over the last few months Banaba, just outside Manila, has mercifully been spared from the storms and heavy rains which frequently hit the community. Yet Banaba’s residents are still under threat from many directions.

For example, the Covid Delta variant has caused a huge new surge of infections in recent months. Total cases across the country have now reached almost 2.8 million, and over 42,000 have sadly died from the virus. What’s more, while over 50 million vaccine doses have been given, the supply chain is fragile and there isn’t enough to meet the need.

The country has implemented a series of lockdowns to curtail the spread, but with more than 2 million hospitality workers impacted in Manila alone, the economic impacts have also caused great hardship. As a result the government has moved to a localised approach targeting individual neighbourhoods, streets and sometimes even specific buildings.

Ka Noli, President of our local partner, Buklod Tao described the situation on the ground:

“At the entrance of the Dona Pepeng Subdivision of Banaba, coming from General A.Luna National Road, the local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office erected a temporary outpost with a big signage that says :"Incident Command Post". This is related to the granular lockdown imposed in Camia street of the subdivision due to recent COVID-19 related deaths in the past two months in that street. There are also several individual houses that are in lockdown in the South Libis area due to COVID-19 cases. These are due to the recent policy of the country's Inter-Agency Task Force for the pandemic that granular lockdown imposition is to be implemented to combat COVID-19”.

Whether this localised, granular approach is successful remains to be seen, and residents are also facing danger from other quarters.

While the typhoon season traditionally draws to a close in August and September, the country was hit by two powerful typhoons last November. So, the chance for more to form this year is still of major concern. This is especially true for families living near the mighty Nangka river, one of several waterways that pass through Banaba.

Ka Noli went on to explain:

“The wall infrastructure erected by the government's Department of Public Works and Highways along the embankment of Nangka River on the Banaba side suffered the brunt of strong currents during last November’s typhoons.

This resulted in the collapse of a 100-meter length of the wall and another stretch of wall further along the river. Now just a half meter of space remains between the eroded portion and the houses of poor informal settlers. In February of this year two big tarpaulin signages were erected at the immediate vicinity of the collapsed wall that inform the residents that the area is not safe anymore; that there is imminent risk of collapse during heavy rains; and that the residents are advised to leave the area.

At the time I went to the area and took pictures of the condition of the houses viz-a-viz the eroded wall at the embankment of Nangka River. I interviewed three to four families that are very close to the eroded wall and asked them why they are not leaving the place. They replied that there is no government assistance to enable them to move and find a place to relocate/resettle. Instead they were advised to seek safety in evacuation centres like ours!”

This clearly isn’t a sustainable solution for long-term shelter needs, but with your amazing support we stand ready to support Buklod Tao and Banaba residents at risk of disaster. Thanks so much for continuing to support this project.

We’ll keep you posted as our work in Banaba continues, and if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to email Andy@IDVolunteers.org. I’d be delighted to hear from you as always.