The Philippines

Since responding to the devastating earthquake in Kashmir in 2005, Community World Service Asia has assumed a leadership role among aid organizations in Asia and has initiated and supported the [...]

Aldrin Lauding remembers the day he lost his home to Typhoon Haiyan like it was yesterday. The storm devastated his entire barangay (village) of Lao. Though he and his partner [...]

The ACT Alliance is deeply concerned about the recent actions of the Philippine government to list a number of activist and Human rights defenders. On 21 February 2018, the government through its Department of Justice filed a petition seeking to declare the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People’s Army […]

Related to building trust and ACT governance, including strategic collaboration as part of the wider ecumenical movement and learning with other forums The interested WCC members in the country are being assisted in its application to become a member of ACT whenever possible. Active engagement in regional and global initiatives, with a clear division of […]

Related to humanitarian, development and advocacy work of ACT Alliance Typhoon Haiyan, which was a Level 3 emergency which brought ACT members to respond in the country in November 2013. The ACT Secretariat, Lutheran World Federation, and other ACT members outside the country came in to assist during the relief and recovery phase. An ACT […]

Structure and leadership The ACT Philippines Forum is a platform for ACT Alliance member organisations that support development, advocacy and humanitarian activities in the Philippines.  The Forum was formally established on July 31, 2013 (although regular coordination meetings had been taking place amongst members since 2009).  It brings together organisations that are committed to the […]

Membership responsibilities In the context of the Philippines, there are two types of membership in the Forum, FULL and ASSOCIATE, those ACT members based in the country and those who have regular programs through local partners but do not have an office in-country, respectively. This is clearly stipulated in the latest version of the Memorandum […]

Growing up, we had happy memories of rain. You dance and sing under it, play games with your friends, and register happy memories in your brain when rainfall hits grass and soil, releasing nature’s scents. It is a bit disturbing when one sees children shiver at the sound heavy rainfall, run for cover at the […]

When Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines on November 8, 2013, it was the most powerful storm to ever make landfall in the Pacific.  It was also the acid test for the ACT Philippines Forum, which had only been created 3 months earlier. The forum has just released an evaluation of the Haiyan response which highlights […]

  “We are being hurt,” says Ustad Alimondas Laut, holding back tears. Sad stories aren’t the usual markers for the end of Ramadan in the Philippines. For Filipino Muslims, festivities generally denote the end of Ramadan. The government declares this day, which falls on June 26 this year, a nonworking holiday across the country. But, […]

Churches pay witness to disasters whether human-induced or natural.   The shared mission of bringing the Good News of solidarity, service, compassion and love to those affected, regardless of their faith, is central to very existence of ACT Alliance and its members.  Devastation is not part of the calling of Churches. Ours is a calling to […]

Recent Yakkum activities on national CBO meeting and rally with focus on No one Left Behind, and National Exhibition during International DRR day with focus on SDGs. Photo: Yakkum   Although the 2030 development agenda, based on 17 goals, were agreed by United Nations in September last year, you can still feel the enthusiasm of […]

The Philippines is the fourth most disaster-prone country in the world having 274 disasters in ten years, from 1995 to 2015 . It is a country where extreme events – protracted, recurrent and sudden – can wipe out gains built over years, even decades. “A typhoon can be especially devastating to farmers. Without their harvests, […]

In the aftermath of the November 2013 typhoon that displaced 4 million people, destroyed 1 million homes, and damaged livelihoods across nine provinces in the central Philippines, ACT members overcame many challenges to reach an estimated 1 million survivors in recovery efforts this year. As the strongest typhoon ever to make landfall, Haiyan left behind […]

Typhoon Haiyan, considered the world’s deadliest typhoon and one of the most powerful to ever make landfall, tore through the Philippines on the morning of 8 November 2013 with winds of up to 275km an hour. ACT established a coordination centre in Manila, and initiated a massive combined response that has topped US$10m. Haiyan cut […]