While their husbands are out fishing, nine women in the island community of Sitio Linao gather regularly to discuss their business enterprise. The women have been saving Php 50 weekly, which they used to start a hog-raising business.  Shirley Voces, one of the members of the Linao Self Help Group (SHeG) said, “our husbands did […]

When her husband is out at sea during the day, 25-year-old Angelica Legria’s daily routine includes doing the laundry, ensuring that there is food on the table, maintaining cleanliness in and out of the house, and teaching her two children basic literacy.  On top of her care work, she also helps prepare and dry the […]

PILAR, SiargaoIsland – To help augment the income their husband’s income amid the COVID-19 pandemic, at least 120 women from the surfing village of Salvacion formed themselves into six self-help groups (SHEGs) last year to sell rice and other goods to their community. Each group is composed of 20 members and was organized through the […]

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines – Sandiale Guiamandal heaved a huge sigh of relief after receiving a Manila envelope hand-delivered to their community composed of bakwits or internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the village of Pandi, Datu Salibo town. Finally, after 46 years, he got his birth certificate just this year. Born on May 7, 1976, Guiamandal placed […]

PILAR, Siargao Island – Since late last year, many residents in the village of Mabuhay would wake up as early as 2 a.m. to queue up and beat others to the only water pump station serving their community of 144 households. The onslaught of the Super Typhoon Rai (local name Odette) last December 16, 2021, […]

PILAR, Siargao Island – To help augment the income their husband’s income amid the COVID-19 pandemic, at least 120 women from the surfing village of Salvacion formed themselves into six self-help groups (SHeGs) last year to sell rice and other goods to their community. Each group is composed of 20 members and was organized through […]

DEL CARMEN, Siargao Island – Belen Ga and her family thought they had experienced the most powerful typhoon in their lives almost four decades ago through Typhoon Ike (locally known as Nitang in 1984), only to be proven wrong by Super Typhoon Rai (locally known as Odette) that wreaked havoc in Siargao Island late last […]

Hundreds of poor families from several flood-prone villages in Cotabato City now have access to high-tech financial services that are compliant with the Sharia Islamic tradition. These project participants of the Strengthening Urban Preparedness through Pre-emptive Action (SUPPA) have previously been unable to open bank accounts and be part of the formal financial banking system. Now […]

In 2008, massive flooding in Cotabato City forced thousands of residents, including the then pregnant Asmina Salik and her family, to spend almost a month in an evacuation center. At that time, the Rio Grande de Mindanao, the longest river in Mindanao and the second largest river system in the Philippines, swelled due to heavy […]

Sixty-one-year-old Babu Baikan Tumindeg spent at least 10 years working as an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) in Qatar. She was on vacation in her hometown of Cotabato City when fate played a cruel joke on her. In late 2019, she lost her right eye to diabetes, a condition that prevented her from going back to […]