HAGIBBAT
HAGIBBAT is a federation of 7 Mangyan indigenous peoples organizations that has been the project partner of University of the Philippines Manila (UPM) professor Fatima Alvarez-Castillo, together with UPM Pahinungod since 2009. The project was funded by global justice philosopher Thomas Pogge. The project had four components: carabao dispersal, communal farms, community literacy schools, and youth leadership and sports.
When Typhoon Haiyan struck in November 2013, the community literacy schools were damaged and the Mangyans' banana crops and some houses were also destroyed. Hagibbat immediately conducted relief efforts with the initial help of Prof. Castillo, her relatives, friends, and students, and eventually with the wider network of Southern Tagalog peoples organizations, and church and disaster response groups. Hagibbat's relief efforts was assisted by donations from Berlin which benefitted 170 families. The relief pack included rice, sardines, dried fish, oil, and hygiene kit. Furthermore, Hagibbat also immediately conducted a needs assessment among Mangyan communities. Those consulted signified their desire to quickly rehabilitate and return to farming instead of relying on relief goods. Thus the focus of the next phase of assistance to the Mangyan communities is rehabilitation, specifically the repair of the schools, the purchase of school materials such as blackboards, notebooks, books, and pencils, the purchase of seeds, and the purchase of scrap metal which the Mangyan farmers will fashion into their farm tools.
UPAA Germany e.V. is also assisting HAGIBBAT as one of its initiatives in helping the typhoon Haiyan victims. In cooperation with donors (e.g. Schroeder Family, Humboldt University, Nelson Mandela School Berlin, Gustav Heinemann Oberschule and the Filipino communities in Germany, the association was able to forward 1,884.19 € to the Southern Tagalog Peoples Response Center (STPRC) for the HAGIBBAT rehabilitation project.
Click here for the summary report of STPRC on the typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) project (as of Feb 4, 2014)
