Blog post by Ana P. SantosMore from Ana P. Santos The tailors and seamstresses at the Kamuning Public Market in Quezon City are legendary for custom tailoring and couture at off-the-rack prices. They can stitch anything from office and school uniforms to wedding gowns. The Kamuning Public Market was closed last March when an enhanced community […]

Blog post by Genevieve EstacaanMore from Genevieve Estacaan Thoughts of loneliness and anxiety ran through Lynda’s mind as she volunteered herself to enter into self-isolation. What transpired not only disrupted her work, but meant not being able to attend to the child she was breastfeeding. Everything happened fast. Just a few days ago, she had high […]

Blog post by Genevieve EstacaanMore from Genevieve Estacaan Haifa is one of the many overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) forced to go back home when the pandemic began. She had been working as a domestic helper in Oman for the past three years. Her contract had expired and the lower demand for OFW domestic helpers made her […]

Blog post by Ana P. SantosMore from Ana P. Santos It started with pineapples. One thousand five hundred pieces of them. Sonny Reyes, 49, had planned the timing of his harvest carefully. He was all set to meet his target of having enough to harvest in March. The timing would allow him to take advantage of […]

Blog post by Ana P. SantosMore from Ana P. Santos The secret to selling fruits is making your customers laugh. “When a customer asks me if the mangoes are sweet, I tell them that it is so sweet that it will make you forget your husband,” laughed Jane Viernes, whose easy smile and witty comebacks make […]

Blog post by Genevieve EstacaanMore from Genevieve Estacaan For Sabel, it was like a scene from a movie. It was around 11:00 in the evening when a police car rushed through their quiet street, waking up the neighbourhood. Suddenly, the police came down from the vehicle and rushed to their house to collect her sisters. “We […]

Blog post by Patricia Miranda, Anam Parvez Butt, Jeanette Kindipan-DulawanMore from Patricia Miranda, Anam Parvez Butt, Jeanette Kindipan-Dulawan Positive prospects amid the pandemic Girls have been given much reason to hope in the Philippines. This November, a historic first, the Senate unanimously approved the Girls Not Brides bill, which proposes to criminalize child marriage. Now the House of […]

Blog post by Ces De Castro-VillaMore from Ces De Castro-Villa Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, women’s choices and rights to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) care have been deprioritized and ignored. Additional contraception methods and SRH information, while identified by the Department of Health as essential life-saving devices, are not evenly implemented as essential requirements of both national […]

Blog post by Oxfam PilipinasMore from Oxfam Pilipinas In the Philippines, Oxfam, together with our local partners, are providing immediate aid and support to the most affected communities in areas affected by Covid-19 in Eastern Samar, armed conflict in Mindanao, and the succession of destructive typhoons in October and November 2020 that battered Luzon Island. These […]

Blog post by Oxfam PilipinasMore from Oxfam Pilipinas Noraida Abo With or without emergencies, Noraida Abo seldom stays at the office of the United Youth of the Philippines-Women (UnYPhil-Women), a local women’s rights organization she currently heads in the southern region of the Philippines.  Her organization is also providing life-saving aid such as cash-for-food, water, sanitation […]