Blogs

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.

Bai, HBCC Stigma Stories (Illustration: Vina Salazar/Oxfam)

Stigma Stories: Others before Self

Thirty-two-year-old Bai was supposed to fly abroad for work when the Philippine Government declared a country-wide lockdown including the temporary suspension of thousands of international and domestic flights. Bai had prepared for her departure for a long time, but all of her plans took a sudden...

Ben, HBCC Stigma Stories (Illustration: Vina Salazar/Oxfam)

Stigma Stories: Help in Times of Great Need

Ben, 36, is a community organizer with an NGO helping people find jobs and creating sources of income in his hometown, Cotabato City. When the pandemic began, his role shifted to mobilizing Barangays (townships) to limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus through hygiene awareness sessions that...

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.

Lynda, HBCC Stigma Stories (Illustration: Vina Salazar/Oxfam)

Stigma Stories: A Change in Perspective

Thoughts of loneliness and anxiety ran through Lynda’s mind as she volunteered herself to enter into self-isolation. What transpired not only disrupted her work, but meant not being able to attend to the child she was breastfeeding.