Earlier this year, Nancy Irving, general secretary of Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC), and I visited the Philippines Evangelical Friends Church to help celebrate their thirty-first anniversary. The main church is in a poor area of Manila, close to the river, so it is easy to imagine how the deluge that hit the city in late September would cause havoc in the tiny winding streets of Pasig, where many Friends live. The typhoon, which has affected 1.9 million people, has left more than 450,000 people homeless. A second typhoon is approaching and is likely to wreak further destruction. People are generally very poor in the Philippines; despite working hard at two to three jobs, they find it hard to rise out of grinding poverty. The main export is their labour, and each day thousands fly out to destinations all over Asia and the Middle East, where they work as maids or drivers or do other unskilled work. Many with skills seek to emigrate and send money back to support families left behind.

The Friends Church was sponsored by Evangelical Friends in the USA and it has been most successful, reaching many people first in Manila, and now reaching many other areas. In 2008, they applied for affiliation with FWCC and were accepted during the Section Meeting at Bhopal, India. They comprise some 3,500 Friends.

Members of the unprogrammed worshipping group in Manila are taking in refugees and assisting those whose homes have been destroyed.

The response to our call for assistance to the Philippines Friends has been really heartening. Friends from America, Europe, Australasia have given generously, and Indian Friends have also donated although they are not well off themselves.

For more insights into the storm and flood damage see John Ocol’s images posted on YouTube: tinyurl.com/ocolmanila.

The Philippines is struck by nine typhoons/hurricanes per year on average. These storms are concentrated in the rainy season. In addition to typhoons there are other serious storms, annual monsoon flooding, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.

The next storm, ‘Parma’, is approaching the Philippines. It may strike the Philippines or it may move due north as it approaches the coast. At present the Hong Kong Observatory forecasts ‘Parma’ will move north, off the coast of the Philippines. The frequency of storms approaching the Philippines from the Pacific at this time of the year at about one a week is normal. But it also brings home the needs of the people of the Philippines for emergency preparedness.

Julian Stargardt, co-convenor of the Asia West Pacific Section Global Change committee, writes: ‘Once we have done our emergency response to the current Manila and North Philippine floods, what is needed most are effective practical plans for emergency response and flood prevention. Planning and implementation for these matters is largely in Philippine hands and probably needs to be organised at the local district or “Baranagay” level. Speaking with one Philippine Friend earlier this week, I was impressed by her clear insight into the issues and actions that can be taken to improve emergency preparedness at the local level. It seems to me that what is needed most is local preparedness and I hope we can help plan and assist with that.’

Donations will be put to immediate use.

Please send donations to FWCC’s World Office at Friends House, 173 Euston Road, London NW1 2BJ. Make cheques payable either to Friends World Committee for Consultation or FWCC and indicate that it is for the Philippines on the envelope or on an attached note.