This project started in June 2008 and its main thrust is supporting sustainable livelihoods development among poor fishing households in Sitio Gumange, Brgy. Cuta na Daco, Sorsogon and social protection through gender-responsive household organizing.
Strategies:
1. Nurturing the social capital:
1.1 gender-responsive household organizing for DRR
a. understanding personhood
b. household visioning and planning
c. the essence of family and parenting
d. building practical family lifeskills
e. building socially responsible families
f. family synergy, family negotiations and agreements
1.2 Finding strength in each member of the community: Family Day
2. Understanding Risks to Disasters: PCVA
3. In search of sustainable livelihoods for fishing households facing the threat of typhoon and storm surges: supplemental and alternative livelihoods
a. shellcraft
b. handicraft from screwpines
c. compost preparation from managed solid waste and dried sea grass found in the shoreline
d. garbage collection from neighboring communities: waste sold for recycling and waste turned into compost
e. vegetable gardening
e. food preparation and vending
f. food retailing in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture, Department of Social Work and Development, National Food Authority
4. Social protection
a. Access to health insurance: P4/day health savings from livelihoods for PhilHealth premium
b. Health empowerment for health resilience: capacity building for a community-based health program (i.e, indigenous health practices such as use of herbal medicine); feeding program for malnourished children
c. Preventing spread of diseases from contaminated water: Setting up level-two potable water system
NOTE: The barangay decided to replicate the strategies and methods used in Sitio Gumang through a barangay resolution. Brgy. Cuta na Daco has been awarded and cleanest barangay in the province of Sorsogon after the replication of the strategies from Sitio Gumang.
Study circles became venues for bringing closer to the communities knowledge gained from the capacity building within the BDRC Learning Circle and other venues for learning. FORGE staff are first provided the first level capacity building and are then sent out to communities to facilitate community-based study circles.
Attempts at Slope Protection (Then and Now)
The fund made available for the community project was used as a leverage to facilitate access to LGU funds. The City government has committed, in principle, to continue the slope protection project.
Planting of 3000 fruit trees, so far, for slope protection
Waste Management: Waste Segregation and River Clean-Up for Riverine Communities
Community support for the strict implementation of NO SEGREGATION, NO GARBAGE COLLECTION ordinance
Fire, landslide, and flooding are the three most common disasters in CebuCity.These disasters mostly affect the urban poor who live in congested areas where most of the houses are made of lights materials; or in danger zones, particularly, beside creeks or in riverbanks.
The Bureau of Fire Protection Region VII has yet to release its official, but between March and May this year, two major fires occurred in CebuCity.In March, a day after the sirens blared to signify the start of Fire Prevention Month, at least 40 structures were razed by the fire that left four people injured and more than 80 families homeless in Barangay Tinago.The damage was placed at P800, 000. In May, more than 447 families or around 2,400 individuals lost their homes in the blaze that hit sitios Bato and Kasilian, Barangay Ermita.The damage was estimated at P2.2 million.
Fire authorities identified electrical misuse as the common cause of fires.On the other hand, Cebu City Vice-Mayor Michael Rama and City Councilor Gerardo Carillo identified the narrow roads, especially in urban poor communities, as the number one difficulty of fire trucks responding to the incidents.
Also in May, some 2,000 people were displaced due to the landslide and flooding spawned by heavy rains.The Cebu City Government, in fact, declared 26 barangays under a state of calamity.
Cebu, being an island, is also threatened by the rising sea level brought about by climate change.Note that big urban poor communities are living in CebuCity’s coastal barangays (i.e. Mambaling, Duljo, Pasil, Ermita, and San Roque).A mere one-meter rise in the sea level will surely submerge these barangays.
The Cebu City Disaster Coordinating Council (CCDC) articulated the need to come up with effective and efficient disaster preparedness plans at the city and barangay levels.
The aforementioned instances strengthened FORGE’s resolve to pursue the advocacy for DRR, particularly, by integrating it into the development plans of partner-barangays.
Pilot areas for this project are barangays Apas, Bulacao, and Kalunasan.Based on the Participatory Capacity and Vulnerability Analysis (PCVA), two years ago, separate landslide and flooding incidents severely affected a total of 600 households in Apas and in Bulacao, and 1,700 households in Kalunasan[j1].
Most of the vulnerable residents in Bulacao are living near the BulacaoRiver, which has a history of overflowing soon after Sta. Lucia Subdivision was developed in the mountain part of the barangay and its adjacent place, TalisayCity.
On the other hand, the most affected residents in Kalunasan are living near the famous GuadalupeRiver, where a portion of its bank (located in Sitio Lower Kalunasan) has not been rehabilitated by the City Government.If this area remains un-rehabilitated, landslide and flooding spawned by heavy downpour will continue to be a major threat.
PROJECT CONCEPT
Community organizing and provision of technical assistance to the barangay local government units (BLGUs) are the indispensable strategies in carrying out the project’s three major components, namely…
1.Social Protection[j1] through Physical Protection, Structural, and Technical Measures:
Under this component, FORGE will build and strengthen the capacities of the urban poor communities and the BLGUs of Apas, Bulacao, and Kalunasan for disaster risk reduction.Major target outputs include the formation of qualified and functional barangay disaster brigades; the regular conduct of community drills as part of the communities’ early warning system; the communities’ familiarization and understanding of the basic concepts of DRR and climate change adaptation through study circle session and thematic discussions; and the construction of slope protection in the landslide-and flood-prone areas in Barangay Kalunasan.
2.Environmental Management through Solid Waste Management and Tree Planting Activities:
Poor or absence of solid waste management in the barangays adds up to the risks of flooding, as garbage will clog-up the canals and other passageways.Hence, FORGE will help set-up the waste management systems of the pilot barangays.FORGE will ensure that waste segregation and regular garbage collection are incorporated in the pilot barangays’ development plans.
On the other hand, deforestation is among the major causes of landslides.Hence, FORGE will encourage the regular conduct of tree planting activities, especially in Apas, Bulacao and Kalunasan landslide and flood prone areas.
Further, FORGE will encourage partners to get a copy of the geo-hazard maps of CebuCity.The plans will provide them with information relevant in coming up with DRR activities for their respective barangays.
3.Planning
Target outputs for this component include the formulation of a Comprehensive Five-Year Barangay Development Plan incorporating the realistic and attainable DRR plan; a Resolution adopting the five-year BDP, and the passage of Barangay Ordinance on the comprehensive utilization of 5% calamity fund[j2] of the BLGU.FORGE will ensure that the planning will be participated by the various stakeholders in the community.
[j1]Social protection normally takes a particular meaning in the context of DRR.This refers to interventions that guarantee social rights.
[j2]What do you mean by this?What do you mean by comprehensive utilization?
[j1]What community was affected by the landslide and what community was/were affected by flooding?
What underlying factors render communities to be at risk to flooding and landslide?These underlying factors should be the main target of risk reducing interventions.
Aims to inform the decision making of residents of resettlement sites (who want to go back in or attempting to go back to these disaster prone areas where they originally lived) as well as inform those still residing in these sites of the risks they face. Special target areas were Tagas and Binitayan.
Strategies Used: PCVA, community risk mapping and assessment, capacity building on DRR, understanding weather forecasts, organizing Quick Response Teams (QRTs), community contingency plans, community drills, and participation in the formulation of the Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP)
Attempts at sustaining livelihoods in Anislag and Taysan ( to prevent resettled residents from going back to high risk areas where livelihoods are perceived to be more accessible).
Strategies used: soft loan assistance for livelihoods, capacity building for business planning, bookkeeping
Attempts at increasing resilience through health interventions and social protection , thus, reducing risks to diseases particularly at the height of natural hazards
Strategies: Training barangay health workers for Anislag and Taysan, feeding program for children to increase access to nutrient-rich food, and facilitating PhilHealth membership (health insurance)
Attempts at increasing resilience at the household level.
Strategies used: Gender dialogue, family counseling, developing HH-based disaster action plan and preemptive/defensive evacuation
The BDRC (Building Disaster Resilient Communities) initiative, supported by the Department for International Development (DFID), seeks to incorporate disaster risk reduction (DRR) into community development work, carried out by Christian Aid's partners and ecumenical networks, using the sustainable livelihoods approach. Further more, the program sought to elevate DRR as a policy priority through promoting the active involvement of civil society (CS) in the preparation of local and national development plans.
3. In search of sustainable livelihoods for fishing households facing the threat of typhoon and storm surges: supplemental and alternative livelihoods
NOTE: The barangay decided to replicate the strategies and methods used in Sitio Gumang through a barangay resolution. Brgy. Cuta na Daco has been awarded and cleanest barangay in the province of Sorsogon after the replication of the strategies from Sitio Gumang.
