800px Tagbanua hut

In November 2013 a massive typhoon hit the Philippines causing huge loss of life. Friends of the Earth International ran an appeal in cooperation with Friends of the Earth Philippines. Thanks to a great deal of interest from our supporters, we were able to send several thousand Euro to Friends of the Earth Philippines.

The contributions to Friends of the Earth Philippines are being used to assist the Tagbanua communities on the island of Palawan in Luzon and indigenous peoples in Mindanao who have organised the Balsa Mindanao, a people’s mobilization for disaster response and climate justice. The Balsa Mindanao will deliver and distribute goods to survivors in Tacloban, Leyte and other parts of the Visayan Islands that were the worst hit by the typhoon.

The word balsa means bamboo raft, which symbolises people’s resilience and determination to survive. Thank you for being part of Friends of the Earth and helping to build a ‘raft’ of solidarity with allied communities in the Philippines, those who in the face of tragedy are bravely struggling for climate justice, and environmental and peoples’ rights.