When Disaster Strikes

The Philippines

A group of over seven thousand islands off the coast of South-East Asia

With a population of 100 million people

The third most at risk country in the world to natural disasters

There are over 160 ethnic groups and languages in the

Philippines.

Over 80% of Filipinos are Catholic

This church is being used to store food supplies after a typhoon.

More than one third of Filipinos live in rural areas. The main cash crops grown by farmers are rice, corn,

coconut, sugarcane and bananas.

On December 3, 2012 Typhoon Bopha made land fall on the southern island of Mindanao.

It was a category 5 super typhoon with wind speeds up to 278km/hr.

Nearly 2,000 people died and 200,000 more people were left homeless.

60% of the coconut trees were destroyed.As a result many coconut farmers lost their livelihoods.

Because 25% of the population live below the poverty line it is difficult for people to bounce back after a

disaster.

The Philippines experiences at least 20 typhoons per year. At least oneof these causes significant damage.

The Philippines is also susceptible to floods

Metro Manila

And earthquakes

Bohol, Central Visayas

To help in emergencies Caritas Aotearoa NZ works with its partner agency, Caritas Philippines.

Humanitarian agencies like Caritas use a model called ‘the emergency cycle’ to help plan their work after a disaster.

The Emergency Cycle

Disaster Occurs

RESPONSE PHASE: Aid agencies and locals begin to assess the damage and clean up.

Tarpaulins are supplied for emergency shelter

Food and clean water distributed

RECOVERY PHASE: Houses are rebuilt

People begin to grow their own food again

Mitigation Phase

Communities are rebuilt in such a way as to reduce the risk of damage in another typhoon.

This house is strapped to the foundations with metal strips to make it more stable in a storm.

This village was re-located away from a stream to prevent flooding.

Preparedness Phase

This typhoon shelter provides a safe evacuation centre in a storm or flood.

Caritas assists at every stage of the cycle

Subsidiarity

When working with people after a disaster, Caritas tries to put into action the Catholic social teaching principle of subsidiarity.

This means that decision-making about how to rebuild involves the contribution of those who have been affected.

With the help of agencies such as Caritas, Filipino communities will be able to Build Back Better so that they will be more resilient to future disasters.