What Does PH HAIYAN Advocacy Do?

Founded in the wake of the devastating Typhoon Haiyan, PH HAIYAN Advocacy, Inc. began as a grassroots effort to restore hope, dignity, and community resilience among the affected regions. Over the years, we have grown into a non-profit, non-governmental organization committed to sustainable recovery and development.

Our initiatives span from environmental restoration and disaster preparedness to youth empowerment, education support, livelihood training, and mental health programs. We believe in empowering communities by working with them, not just for them.

To this day, we continue to expand our reach and impact through partnerships with LGUs, educational institutions, and international allies. Our vision is a stronger, safer, and more compassionate Philippines led by communities that uplift each other.

Project 1. Nursery Seedling Production

PH Haiyan purchased seedlings from BLGUs due to limited project time.

Due to limited time to implement the project, PH Haiyan decide to purchase seedlings from BLGUs. In Barangay Tagpuro, Tacloban City, they have a seedling nursery for mangroves. The project offered to purchase the seedlings at 10.00 per seedling. The BLGU of Tagpuro, represented by their committee on Agricultural point person, signed a contract to sell their seedlings or 8,333 per hectare to cover the 7.8 hectares of coastline. Every seedling planted is paid by the project at Php 2.00. Majority of the planters are fisherfolks. As part of the project's gender inclusivity, women were encouraged and involved in the planting process and in the entire project implementation.

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Project 2. Mangrove Reforestation

DENR certified 90% survival rate for mangroves planted by the project.

As of September 2018, DENR certified 90% survival rate of the mangroves planted in the reforestation sites of the project. The total mangrove area enhanced was 39.50 hectares while the total mangrove area covered was around 50 hectares in 6 barangays. The total seedling planted from November 2017 to September 2018 were approximately, 460,000. As part of the project's initiatives to protect the mangroves from natural and anthropogenic activities, seedlings and planting sites were fenced using fishnets. The project was able to fence 5.8 kilometers or 5,800 linear meters along the planting sites.

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Project 3. Livelihood Projects and Opportunities

Livelihood assistance focused on coastal management and mangrove protection.

PH Haiyan provided livelihood assistance to selected beneficiaries. The livelihood project focused on coastal management and mangrove protection and development. The project purchased the available materials in the community which can be used for mangrove development and reforestation, such as tangnan or bamboo stakes to protect the mangrove from debris. To prepare the sites for planting, the areas would require clean-up fencing/netting and staking. The project employed residents within the project site to foster more participation and a sense of ownership from the community. Every individual who took part in site preparation received Php 250.00 wage per day.

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Project 4. Mainstreaming of Climate Change Adaptation

Activities to promote climate change adaptation and public support.

To mainstream climate change adaptation and to encourage the general public to support initiatives that mitigate the impact of climate change while increasing resilience, the Project conducted various activities such as Project Orientations To create awareness and to encourage massive support from the public, the Project conducted orientations in academic institutions, government agencies and in coastal barangays where the project was implemented. Consultative meetings were also conducted among stakeholders such as the fisherfolks and People's Organizations in the communities.

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Mangrove Restoration

AOne of the objectives of the Project is to gather legislative support through ordinances and resolutions that will declare the barangay's mangrove area as Protected Sites.

Barangay Council Presentations. One of the objectives of the Project is to gather legislative support through ordinances and resolutions that will declare the barangay's mangrove area as Protected Sites. Thus, the project conducted various barangay counsil presentations and consultations to legislate their support to the project and to environment. As of this writing, four barangays (Brgy 108 Tagpuro, Brgy 102 Old Kawayan, Brgy 83 Burayan, and Brgy 69 Anibong) have already passed a resolution for the protection of mangrove plantation sites in their respective areas.

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Hosting of Climate Change Conferences and Workshops

Hosted Regional Climate Change Conferences with key guests and LGUs.

PH Haiyan has already conducted Regional Climate Change Conference for two consecutive years. The first was in October 13-14, 2016. This was attended by Cooperative groups and LGUs in Eastern Visayas with esteemed guests that include Senator Loren Legarda and Cynthia Villar, former Provincial Governor and currently the Mayor of Palo Leyte Hon Remedios Petilla, former Vice-Governor of Leyte Mimietta Bagulaya, and Tacloban City Councilor Jerry Yaokasin, among other

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Hosting of Climate Change Conferences and Workshops

Second conference raised youth awareness on climate change impacts.

The second Regional Climate Change conference was held on November 20-21, 2017. It was in partnership with the Climate Change Commission (CCC) and was attended by senior high and college students, including school teachers and administrators from 31 state universities and colleges within Region VIII. The conference envisioned creating awareness among the youth on the adverse effects of climate change and the interventions can be undertaken to mitigate and adapt to the changes brought about by its phenomena.

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1. Policy Initiatives

Advocated for climate-related ordinances and commemorative legislation.

Aside from policy advocacy in the barangay level, the Project also participated in lobbying, through participation in committee hearing and drafting of ordinances, with the Tacloban city council. To date, the city has approved two of the ordinances that PH Haiyan helped in lobbying; the city ordinance that declared November 1-7 as Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Week and November 8 as Day of Remembrance and Gratitude in the City of Tacloban. PH Haiyan has also helped in lobbying for the passage of congressional bill 4383 by Congresswoman Yedda Romualdez. The bill aims to declare November 8 of every year as Yolanda Commemoration Day. As of this writing, the bill is already at the Bicameral Conference after it was approved by both the lower and upper house. PH Haiyan is also working on a proposal for the creation of Cancabato Bay Management Authority (CBMA)

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2. Reclaiming the Beach Forest

Ongoing beach forest initiative in Barangay 88 for habitat and carbon absorption.

A beach forest located in Barangay 88 is a current and ongoing initiative of PH Haiyan to create and develop a park that would serve as a natural habitat for various species, such as birds and other organisms and at the same time, a forest along the beach that will help absorb more carbon dioxide to help mitigate the effect of green house. This initiative is part and parcel of the country's intention to secure the buffer strip and salvage/protection zones along coastlines. The establishment of Beach Forest is based on various legislations, to wit: PD 705 or the Revised Forestry Reform Code of the Philippines; PD 1067 or Water Code of the Philippines; RA 9275 or Climate Change Act of 2009; RA 10121 or the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction Act; Collectively, these existing laws are related to securing the Buffer Strip and Salvage/Protection Zone as Greenbelt. These areas are intended to be non-buildable, non-alienable and to be kept open all the time for public use in the event of emergency, disaster and even for jovial event.

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3. Nursery Establishment for Mangrove and Beach Forest Species

Nursery in Barangay 88 supplies mangrove and beach forest planting materials.

To support the beach forest and mangrove planting sites, a nursery was established by the Project. The said nursery is located in Barangay 88, San Jose, Tacloban City. High quality planting materials of mangrove and beach forest species are being maintained, protected and prepared in the nursery for planting.

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4. Balugo Watershed and Eco-tourism Park in Barangay Salvacion.

Developing a 100-hectare eco-tourism park and resiliency center in Salvacion.

As of this writing, technical studies and prepations are being conducted to develop a Climate Resiliency Center located in Barangay Salvacion, Tacloban City. The 100-hectare project site has watershed and falls making the area a suitable place for recreation and learning. Part of the vision for the place is to erect a training/activity center with 50-bed capacity sleeping quarters for the participants. The site is set to be developed as 'Living Musuem' of Philippine Flora and Fauna or an eco-tourism park and a venue for climate change-related activities in consonance with the ridge to reef approach to climate proofing.

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