Philippines

This week the 4th FRLD board meeting is happening in Manila. In 2025, the Philippines will be hosting the FLRD board and will convene most of the meetings. This article explains what it means for Philippines and the rest of SEA.

Located at the tip of the Philippines, and approximately 118 miles from Taiwan, with almost identical weather, the Ivatans of Batanes have learned to adapt their ways of life while inhabiting the most typhoon-prone islands in the country. 

In this article the author explores creative approach on widening the conversation around the climate crisis by highlighting board games as a way to provide spaces for talking about how to live in our climate-changed world.

While there are more ways for the Deaf to access news and information today, the communication barriers they faced three decades ago remain. These persist at a time when a warming planet is causing extreme weather events, such as typhoons, to get stronger and cause more destruction – but basic public information about disasters do not reach the Deaf community effectively. Many among them also lack knowledge about the climate crisis.

In a coastal city in the Philippines, poor families in the urban margins participate in the efforts to stem the effects of climate change, yet they are still likely to bear its worst effects. This piece explains why “segregation at source” measures that target households is not enough to stem the tide of plastic wastes. 

While progress is continuing within the framework of the UNFCCC processes, complementary initiatives are also occurring outside of it. In the Philippines, the recent CLIMA Act is a world-first proposed bill targeting business accountability and upholding human rights, and there is also growing international collaboration and actions at national and sub-national levels.

The city of Tacloban in the Philippines has bounced back after Super Typhoon Haiyan struck in 2013, but has it really built back better? Large-scale natural disasters offer the chance to imagine and build better sustainable urban systems but the follow-through didn’t happen in this case.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of the Philippines immediately signed into law the controversial Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) bill on July 18, 2023. 

As the dust of the 2022 presidential election settles, the alliances, the compromises, and the policy trajectory become more visible under the Marcos-Duterte government. The well-curated campaign must now give way to the actual governance work and the pressing issues faced by the post-pandemic Philippines.