Philippines: three years old and potentially orphaned

Written by Maricar Edmilao, Child Protection in Emergencies Officer, Save the Children in the Philippines

His goddaughter was found in a cemetery in the town of New Bataan, Compostella Valley, after her mother and siblings died in a landslide triggered by Typhoon Bopha. The girl’s father remains on the missing persons list.

She is just three years old – potentially orphaned and living with her relatives.

This was a story told to me by a local government officer about his goddaughter while he gave us data about the number of casualties, injuries, displaced persons and damages.

It’s not an unusual situation. Many aid and government workers conducting rescue and relief missions have suffered losses themselves, but press on because they see just how great the needs are.

Lives destroyed

Over 700 people are now reported dead, with more than 800 still missing. Many children have lost their fathers who were fishing out at sea when the typhoon struck.

Because residents didn’t heed early warnings, many children have now been reported unaccompanied by adults, while others are sleeping in open areas without proper shelter, access to water or food, making them more vulnerable than they already are.

Following an assessment of destruction and needs, Save the Children’s teams have begun distributing toiletries, blankets, sleeping mats and mosquito nets, cooking pots and pans, and jerry cans with drinking water to the worst-affected families in Compostela Valley and Agusan del Sur.

These areas have been completely flattened in the storm – houses, plantations, schools and other commercial buildings reduced to a pile of mud and debris.

Huge problems to tackle

We’re just at the beginning of our relief efforts. There’s not enough room in evacuation centres, electricity is expected to be down for the next two months, women and children are without private sleeping areas, children don’t have safe play areas, schools could take months to be restored, livelihoods have been destroyed.

In the meantime, children could be forced to work in order to feed their families, stunting rates could go up in an area already blighted by child malnutrition, children could be at risk of being kidnapped at night while sleeping in open areas and subject to stress while sleeping in close quarters.

Two years ago, no one would have expected a situation like this. Mindanao sits very close to the equator, away from the general path of storms headed to the Philippines.

Families here aren’t prepared for such disasters, simply because no one expects it to hit them. As a result, their houses weren’t built to resist such strong winds, fishermen were unlikely to pay any attention storm alerts, and children haven’t been taught to react and respond to a situation like this.

Plans for the future

With climate change transforming the way storms traditionally occur, new and stronger infrastructure needs to be in place, early warning systems strengthened and training in place to ensure that people evacuate and respond accordingly to keep their children safe.

Save the Children is now appealing for more funds to help rebuild the lives of these children who were already living in some of the poorest areas of the Philippines.

Nearly 1.6 million children have been affected in this typhoon and we need to ensure that help reaches them and they’re ready in the event that a disaster like this strikes again.

Please donate to our Emergency Fund