rapid assessment of the social impacts of - Philippines Development ...

sardines, noodles, and rice), bottled water, clothing, cleaning equipment and non-food items,
such as blankets and towels, as well as school supplies. Health assistance was also provided in
some of the areas visited.
Box 7: Relief Assistance in Camacho Phase II
GK assistance:
Food
Clothes
Blankets
Slippers
School supplies
Cleaning materials and equipment (e.g., soap,
wash basins, shovels)
Medical missions (including medicines)
Free use of washing machine (limited to 5
kilograms of load per family)
Tzu Chi Foundation’s “Cleaning Work for Pay”
benefited 210 of 287 households. With the
income they derived from participating in this
initiative, the residents were able to store up to a
month’s supply of food and purchase some
kitchen wares.
Box 8: Relief Assistance in Kasiglahan Village 1
Salvation Army Relief Assistance provided each
household member with a relief sack containing
10 kilos of rice, canned goods, one mat, one
blanket, one 5-liter bottled water, and one bottle
of antiseptic.
“There are six of us in the household so we
received 60 kilos of rice, assorted canned goods,
six mats, six blankets, six 5-liter bottled water and
six bottles of Betadine. The relief assistance will
provide enough food for my family for a month. I
don’t have to worry where to get money for my
family’s food needs. I have shared some of these
relief goods with my neighbors. Thanks to
Salvation Army.” – ATO, 54
Participating in cash for work schemes
While the bulk of the relief provided was in-kind,
there were two instances of cash assistance observed
in the study sites. Immediately after Ondoy, Tzu Chi
Foundation and the Quezon City government offered
cash for work schemes to residents of Camacho Phase
II and Doña Imelda, respectively. In Camacho Phase II,
Tzu Chi Foundation’s “Cleaning Work for Pay,”
allowed residents to earn extra money (PhP400) per
day per person, which some used to purchase lost
kitchen wares. A family of five earned PhP2,000 a day,
or PhP14,000 per week. The Quezon City
government’s “Tulong sa Panghanapbuhay sa Ating
Disadvantaged Workers” (TUPAD) scheme generated
income for Doña Imelda residents (initially only
women but later also men) in the amount of PhP272
for a day’s work. The program lasted three days and
benefited fifteen street cleaners who were chosen by
the community leaders among those most in need of
financial assistance.
Receiving support from family and the workplace
Some households received support from the
immediate family and relatives living in the province
or abroad, both in kind (rice, temporary shelter) and
cash (remittances). Some of the interviewed salaried
workers had been given cash assistance by their
employers.
Borrowing
“Each SA relief pack was based on humanitarian
A general coping mechanism among urban poor
households is borrowing. In the control site (Marikina
Heights), in spite of a minimal civil society presence
one source of financial support that women often rely
on is microfinance groups. Kabalikat para sa Maunlad
na Buhay, Inc. (KMBI) is the more prominent one and
is easily recalled by the respondents. It is the women
standards that would allow each household who, perhaps due to their traditional role in managing
member to cope with the emergency situation household resources, seek out and obtain loans. To
they are in for a number of days or weeks.” – make ends meet, residents from the affected
BERING, 63
communities resorted to borrowing money from
formal and informal lending sources. However,
instead of financing productive activities, in the aftermath of Ondoy, loans were diverted to
cover basic household needs, such as food, medicine, water, electricity, and school allowances.
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