Julie Chenido could think of other important uses for her P25 but it’s an amount she’s willing to contribute to her community organization, especially since the money will be used to ensure the safety of her family and other residents of the island village of San Isidro, in Dolores, Eastern Samar. San Isidro is a […]

When Super Typhoon ‘Haiyan’ (local name: Yolanda) struck the town of Lawaan in Eastern Samar in the early morning of November 8, 2013, the residents of Barangay Guinob-an were shocked not just by the sheer amount of devastation but also the realization that they had nowhere safe to go to. Guinob-an, which faces Leyte Gulf, […]

Juanday and Farhana are childhood best friends who grew up in Guindulungan, Maguindanao. They were classmates from elementary until college, and both were student leaders. Since grade school, Juanday and Farhana witnessed early child and forced marriages and violence against women in their community.  According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), in the Philippines, […]

Asma chose to be married at the age of 15, but her mother did not allow her. According to her, she decided to marry her current husband because of love.  “Early marriage is legal to us Muslims. However, I realized that it is difficult to marry and become a mother at an early age, especially […]

Alam namin na hindi madali na makipag-usap sa ating mga magulang at ibang tao pagdating sa sex at kasarian. Kaya naman ngayong World Sexual Health Day, sasagutin namin nang libre ang inyong mga katanungan tungkol sa reproductive health, pakikipag-relasyon, teenage pregnancy at iba pang usapin tungkol sa sex at gender.  Maaari ninyong ipadala ang inyong […]

Oxfam Pilipinas staff joined the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) and other organizations in a tree planting activity in Cotabato City last Thursday to commemorate World Humanitarian Day. The activity emphasized the importance of advocating and acting locally on climate emergency, starting with reclaiming forest cover. It also conveyed […]

For two straight years now, more than 500 Moro families from a village in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao have been spending Ramadan away from their homes. The intermittent violent clashes between government forces and armed groups have repeatedly forced the villagers to flee. Most villagers could no longer count with their fingers the times they sought […]

For Lilia Godoy, 63, Typhoon Rolly (international name: Goni) is not something she can easily forget. Her village of Carangcang was devastated by the typhoon although it did not experience flooding like most of their neighboring villages in Magarao. “Many houses here were destroyed. Our neighbor, until today, it’s sad to say that due to […]

For the last 4 months, Uri Bandao has remained productive despite the difficult situation her family and at least 160 others have endured at an evacuation camp in Datu Hoffer, Maguindanao province. Prior to their displacement due to clashes between government forces and armed men, the 46-year-old mother of 6 and wife of a “payong-payong” […]

With a number of communities and local tribes in Mindanao driven off of their land due to armed conflict, thousands of residents have repeatedly been displaced in provinces like Maguindanao. In one town in Maguindanao, an indigenous tribe had to seek refuge in a makeshift evacuation camp due to land disputes. Like a number of […]