11.14.2025 Annual Devastation

In December of 2019, I had the honor of visiting the Philippines on an exposure trip with members of Gabriela Portland and Gabriela Seattle. We visited semi-urban, semi-rural areas of the island of Panay in the Western Visayan Region, learning about the conditions impacting small fisherfolk, urban poor, and peasant communities that get ravaged every year by typhoon season, worsened annually by government corruption, corporate greed, and environmental degradation.

Community members spoke on the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda). The disaster claimed more than 6,300 lives, but many more died in the weeks after, packed into evacuation centers after losing everything with little access to food, clean water, and medicine. Many people we interviewed were originally from Samar and Leyte, displaced by the absolute destruction of their villages and farmlands, they migrated to the western region in search of livelihood, only to experience more suffering.

We heard stories of government corruption, local barangay captains prioritizing the distribution of food, aid, and supplies to their own families or friends, or withholding supplies until they could be filmed by news crews handing out bags of rice that had been sitting in contaminated water so long they had started to mold and rot. There was a rise in cases of domestic violence and sexual exploitation, starvation, and sanitation-related diseases. During the trip, I was one of the translators for our group. Interviewing and repeatedly translating such horrific experiences and conditions gave me nightmares for weeks.

In 2019, 7 years after the devastation of Haiyan, many people still lived in evacuation centers or temporary housing. There were promises from the local government for help with rebuilding and rehabilitation, but those promises proved empty. Portions of land once filled with villages, farms, and homes, were sold to foreign-owned agribusiness and energy companies meant to "jumpstart" the local economy, but only contributed to the area's further destruction, pollution, and exploitation of its residents.

With little resources to turn to, the fisherfolk and peasant communities have built grassroots organizations and networks, not just support each other during times of disaster, but to advocate for their communities and speak out against systems that put them in such vulnerable positions to begin with. In local fisherfolk organization, Pamalakaya, members build and share small motorboats, weave nets together, and negotiate fair market pricing at the barangays palengke. They campaign against foreign-owned commercial fishing companies that overfish and impact local fisherman whose families subsist off of their daily catch. Chapters of Gabriela and Amihan across the area organize local peasant women, educating them on basic first aid, traditional healing and medicinal practices to combat avoidable illness, and fight against a local coal plant that was polluting their air and water. Kilusang Magbubukid Ng Pilipinas (KMP) organizes peasants and farmers fighting for land reform, peasant rights, and agrarian justice for millions of Filipino farmers facing land grabbing and poverty. As much as we heard stories of disaster and its aftermath, we also heard stories of hope, of our kababayan coming together to fight for better conditions.

Now 12 years after Typhoon Haiyan, the annual typhoon season is as destructive as ever and issues of deforestation, coastal degredation, illegal quarrying, mineral mining, and gravel extraction contribute to recurring floods that may be better handled had billions of pesos meant for flood control projects been used accordingly rather than pocketed by corrupt government officials.

There are many relief efforts calling on support from Filipinos overseas. If you are looking for ways to get involved or organizations to donate to, these are two that I have worked with and trust, who take pride in their people-to-people initiatives and aid, and thoroughly vet on-the-ground partner organizations in the Philippines:

• The Foundation for Philippine Progress, a Portland-based non-profit dedicated to empower and engage communities in programs and projects for the Philippines to secure quality health, education, and basic human rights for every Filipino

• National Alliance for Filipino Concerns, a national alliance of Filipino organizations, institutions, and individuals that responds to the concerns of Filipinos in the US and in the Philippines by creating an action-oriented platform that brings people together through culture & heritage, education, health & wellness, and advocacy.

Here are some of our initiatives to help fundraise for disaster relief in the Philippines:

• 15% of sales from our upcoming pop-ups and events

  • Pop-Up at Union Way PDX, Saturday, 11/15 from 12-6pm

  • Thanksgiving Pre-order Pick-Up and Pop-Up at Tambayan PDX, Wednesday, 11/26 from 12-5pm

  • My People's Market at the Oregon Convention Center, Saturday and Sunday, 12/6 & 12/7, 11am-5pm

  • Silent Night Acoustic Show at Mekong Bistro, Saturday, 12/13 starting at 5pm

• A portion of ticket sales from our Parol Making Workshops on 12/3 and 12/10

• $10 from every tote bag pre-ordered

Please help us support these fundraising efforts by donating to one of the organizations above, spreading the word, starting up donation drives with local organizations, churches, schools, etc. If you have any questions about partnering with one of these organizations, or to collaborate with us on a fundraiser, you're more than welcome to reach out to me at shophalohalo@gmail.com. Our kababayan are reeling from multiple back-to-back calamities, but our collective action can make a huge difference for those impacted. Maraming salamat!