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Resilience

Grace Moñera holds a curtain made out of bamboo at a small shop in Tabango town in Leyte province, south of Manila, Philippines. Photo: Basilio Sepe / Oxfam Pilipinas

Leyte district gives basket weaving a modern spin to support local artisans, inclusive businesses

Grace Moñera, 32, was just a child when her father first taught her how to cut bamboo and turn them into amakan or woven split-bamboo mats that are commonly used as wall paneling for traditional houses in some parts of rural Philippines. Knowing this craft has allowed her to earn extra money as she...

Marivic Dubria inspects coffee cherries on her family’s 2-hectare farm in Bansalan town, Davao del Sur. Dubria is among the farmer trainees of Coffee for Peace, a social enterprise that is a member of the Poverty Reduction through Social Entrepreneurship (PRESENT) Coalition, which is a partner of Oxfam Pilipinas under The Gender Transforma-tive and Responsible Agribusiness Investments in South East Asia (GRAISEA) program. Photo by Roy Lagarde / Oxfam Pilipinas

Davao coffee shop helps lift farmers out of poverty

DAVAO CITY — Marivic and Joe Randy Dubria live in a farming village in Bansalan, Davao del Sur, at the foothills of the Mt. Apo, the highest mountain in the Philippines. The couple worked hard but they struggled to make ends meet. Vegetable farming brought little income while Marivic’s take home...

B-READY participant receives her prepaid card in Barangay Burak, Salcedo, Eastern Samar. (Photo: Myleen Ogana, PDRRN)

Future-proofing our communities

The Covid-19 crisis is not the only emergency the Philippines is facing. The economic slump triggered by the pandemic is happening alongside the country’s vulnerability to natural hazards and climate-related disasters, and worsening pre-existing social vulnerabilities.

Stitching Up the Economic Wound of COVID-19: The Women Sewers of Kamuning Public Market

The Kamuning Public Market was closed last March when an enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) was declared to slow the spread of COVID-19. Only food vendors were allowed to sell. Seamstresses like 61-year-old Lina Arroyo had to stay at home--a mandate she found hard to follow.

The future is equal