Stories of Resilience from the Philippines
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Strengthening power from below: Stories of resilience from the Philippines November 2015 Contact Christian Aid Philippines 2/F Manila Observatory Building Ateneo de Manila University LoyolaChristian Heights, Aid is Quezon a Christian City, 1108 organization that insists the Philippines Telephone:world can and+632 must 441-1117; be swiftly 4265921 changed to 23 to one where christianaid.org.uk/thephilippineseveryone can live a full life, free from poverty. We work globally for profound change that eradicates the causes of poverty, striving to achieve equality, dignity and freedom for all, regardless of faith or nationality. We are part of a wider movement for social justice. We provide urgent, practical and effective assistance where need is great, tackling the effects of poverty as well as its root causes. Christianaid.org.uk Christian Aid is a member of Our partners A K K ALYANSA M TIGIL A MINA SEC Reg. No. CN201222346 UK registered charity no. 1105851 Company no. 5171525 Scot charity no. SC039150 Christian Aid Ireland: NI charity no. NIC101631 Company no. NI059154 and ROI charity no. 20014162 CompanyCover no. photo: 426928. The A Christian carpenter Aid name andrebuilds logo are trademarks a temporary of Christian Aid.house Christian as Aid a is abulldozer key member of expandsACT Alliance. © a Christian boulevard Aid August 2015 15-J4366 that cuts through a Muslim informal settlement in Pagadian City. (Allan Vera) Contents List of acronyms 4 Introduction: Empowering communities towards resilience 5 1 Putting civil society and grassroots voices in spaces of governance 9 Claiming rights by amplifying community voice: FORGE 10 Community voices in national housing negotiations: PHILSSA and AKKMA 11 Civil society voices in global and national climate change negotiations: AK 13 2 Engaging civil society networks for building resilience 15 3 Recasting community organising for resilience 19 Rebuilding Mindanao through stewardship and interfaith work: SPI and UFS 20 Changing mindsets, transforming lives: Coastal CORE 23 Putting the spotlight on the family: FORGE 25 4 Turning markets into channels for resilience 27 Weaving their way through resilience: UPA and KABALIKAT 27 Reinforcing consolidators to uphold community resilience: Philnet 29 5 Accessing public finance for resilience building 32 Directing people’s funds towards coastal resource preservation: Coastal CORE 33 Claiming the nation’s purse for building resilience: SWP and ABI 34 6 Protecting the environment to build resilient communities 38 People’s movement against mining: ATM 38 Organising for our land: RWAN and MOFA 41 7 Learning for resilience 45 Endnotes 49 3 List of acronyms ABI Alternative Budget Initiative ACED Advancing CSO Engagement in DRRM-CCA AK Aksyon Klima AKKMA Action for Preparedness to Calamities and Climate Change ATM Alyansa Tigil Mina BUB bottom-up budgeting CCA climate change adaptation CODE-NGO Caucus of Development NGO Networks CRFS climate resiliency field school DRRM disaster risk reduction and management FDI family development intervention FORGE Fellowship for Organizing Endeavors FPIC free and prior informed consent MDG Millennium Development Goals MinLand Mindanao Land Foundation MOFA Matabao Organic Farmers Association NCIP National Commission on Indigenous People NGO non-governmental organisation PCA Philippine Coconut Authority PhilDHRRA Philippine Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in Rural Areas Philnet Philippine Network for Rural Democratization and Development PHILSSA Partnership of Philippine Support Service Agencies PVCA Participatory Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment RWAN Rice Watch and Action Network SPI Socio-Pastoral Institute SWP Social Watch Philippines TULHOA Tarkum Upper Laguerta Homeowners Association UFS Ummah Fi Salam UPA Urban Poor Associates WMC Western Mining Corporation 4 Introduction: Empowering communities towards resilience Poverty is complex. Its causes are systemic, often intertwined and span time. It is rooted in the past, exists in the present and is imminent in risks that have yet to arise. Poverty goes beyond external risks, such as material deprivation, poor governance, inequality and unfair markets, and includes internal risks, such as humiliation, lack of voice and confidence, powerlessness and physical weaknesses. At its core are the lack or misuse of power and unequal power relations within and among countries, groups and individuals. For Christian Aid, therefore, ‘poverty is disempowerment and the injustices that result [from it].’1 The nature of risks varies. Risks may be short-term or long-term; hidden or visible; sudden or slowly unfolding. They also differ across ecosystems. The risks faced by small islands may not necessarily be the same as those confronting uplands and urban areas. New risks emerge, while present risks constantly evolve as these interact with one another. Risks affect vulnerable communities and individuals in various ways, but the hardest hit are the most vulnerable, including indigenous communities, the marginalised urban poor and upland communities living in remote areas with distinct vulnerabilities. The Philippines reflects the complexity of a multi-risk environment. It is exposed to multiple natural and physical hazards, as it lies just above the equator along the Pacific Ring of Fire, where many of the earth’s typhoons, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur. Systemic and internal risks also pose a threat to the development of its people. Centuries-old conflict in the southern Philippines between Moro (Muslims and indigenous people) and other faiths has marginalised the Moro and embedded feelings of resentment and isolation among them. Unfair market policies and lack of confidence have prevented small-scale Philippine producers from actively participating in the market and claiming their fair share of its benefits. The government’s push for corporate-led development of target economic investment areas and the powerlessness of indigenous communities to protect their ancestral domain jeopardise the country’s remaining farmlands and forestlands. Powerful elites continue to have a stronghold over national policies and decision-making spaces, stifling grassroots voices and limiting their opportunities to participate and influence these spaces. The usual response of poor people to these risks revolves around survival or subsistence, especially since they have limited or no options, voice and opportunities to address the threats they are facing and reduce their vulnerability. Others have become resigned to their situation, lacking hope that their lives will improve, especially when they have been embroiled in a long history of neglect and abuse. The uncertainties arising from past, present and future threats increase the urgency to put an end to power imbalances and transform structures, systems and internal vulnerabilities that continue to disempower poor people. Thus, ‘the question is no longer whether change is needed but what form that change must take.’2 Achieving such power transformation necessitates an approach that aims to help poor communities not only survive and subsist but also thrive. It involves empowering communities to be resilient to the risks brought about by a changing and challenging environment. This approach is not merely confined to building assets and diversifying income but further seeks to address external and internal causes of poverty and dynamic shocks and stress from the environment. 5 Building resilient communities entails a convergence of approaches that goes beyond disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation to include community organising, livelihoods development, gender equality and accountable governance. Solely focusing on disaster preparedness is not sufficient to reduce people’s vulnerability to more systemic political, social and economic risks. In the same way, development work assumes that poverty occurs in a fixed setting and is therefore unable to anticipate changes brought about by hazards. In short, ‘promoting an insecure livelihood is no better than protecting an inadequate one.’3 Christian Aid blends all of these strategies in its resilient livelihoods framework, which is intended to guide vulnerable communities, as well as the organisations working with them, in understanding and managing the risks they are facing and finding ways to adapt to a seemingly unstable environment. A resilient livelihood, therefore, is ‘one that enables people to anticipate, organise for, and adapt to, change.’4 To achieve this, poor communities should be able to transform the way they make a living into one that could withstand the effects of uncertainties and risks, both known and unknown. They must have options and safeguards that allow them to adapt and maximise opportunities to improve their lives and reduce their vulnerability to shocks. A family that is dependent mainly on farming for income is easily weakened by pressures from drought and extreme, unpredictable weather changes unless it has crop insurance from government, support groups to provide technical inputs, or savings to invest in crop protection from hazards. Spare assets or ‘buffers’ are important, whether they are tangible, such as organic farming inputs and savings, or intangible, such as broad social capital, good health and strong self- identity, making the people better equipped to recover from the impact and adapt to their new environment. Vulnerable communities must also have a plan that takes into account anticipated threats, enabling them to