Philippines: ACF Mounts Response in Wake of Typhoon

Over the next two months, Action Against Hunger / ACF-USA will provide drinking water to 15,000 people in several provinces in Mindanao, which is the southernmost island of the country, and distribute food to 7,500 others on the islands, as well as in the centre of the country, at Corcuera and Banton.

Weeks after Typhoon Fengshen passed through northern and southern Philippines, most of the affected population has lost their homes and do not have adequate drinking water or food. In the islands Corcuera, Banton, and the centre of the country, more than 80,000 people have suffered the effects of the typhoon, while in the Mindanao region, nearly 60,000 people are displaced and need urgent assistance.

Over the next two months, Action Against Hunger plans to conduct an emergency intervention in these two regions:

• In the islands Corcuera and Banton (Romblon), ACF is distributing food and basic hygiene materials to 1,500 families, that is, more than 7,500 people. All of them have lost their homes and livelihoods, a loss of production which is compounded by the increase in prices of basic foodstuffs such as rice and isolation of these islands from the rest of the country.
• In the provinces of Maguindanao and North Cotabato (Mindanao): Distribute household filters to clean water tanks, which supply families with 20 litres of water, and basic hygiene products to more than 15,000 people, in order to restore normalcy as soon as possible. Action Against Hunger will not make any shipments of material from Madrid, all these inputs will be purchased in local markets.

"In Romblon islands (Corcuera and Banton) almost 100% of the population has lost everything, while in Mindanao, seven out of ten people are unable to access drinking water or food. Floods caused by the typhoon have plugged most of the wells and flooded their crops, "explains Carlos Alegre, head of mission for Action Against Hunger in the Philippines.

The intervention is financed by the Spanish Agency of International Development Cooperation (AEC), the Catalan Agency for Development Cooperation (ACCD) and Caja Madrid.

Action Against Hunger in the Philippines

The organization has worked in the Philippines since 2000, providing water and sanitation projects, food security and disaster prevention benefiting more than 35,000 people across the country. The emergency intervention is funded by the Spanish Agency of International Cooperation (AEC), the Catalan Agency for Development Cooperation (ACCD) and Caja Madrid.