COTABATO

“Take your family members with ‘persons with disabilities’ out of the house. Don’t imprison
them. Don’t hide them. Even small children. Even the old people. So they are exposed to
society.”

“The Handicap International came. They were the ones who taught me. From all the training,
my mind started to turn that we shouldn’t be ashamed. Even of you have a disability, what
people with two legs can do, so can those with disabilities.”

“Your disability is not an obstacle, if you have skills. Your disability is not an obstacle tp ypur
dreams.” - Milagros Barreto, Federation President of PWD of Arakan, North Cotabato

“We were able to penetrate into the consciousness not only of the people of the
communities, but also with the local government officials. We work with people with disabilities.
We do not work for them, but we work for them. That’s why we have people like Milagros ‘Mila’
Barreto.” - Joana Villaflor , Former Mainstreaming Disability Officer SUBU Project

“Let’s show them that we are people. If they are people, then so are we. Differences will be
lost in the community. Right?” Elenor B. Alva, PWD President of Barangay Kabalatian

“We should not treat them like beggars. Instead, we should make them a part of the
discussions of governances for the local government unit.” - Leonardo Reovoca, Municipal
Councilor of Arakan, North Cotabato

WESTERN SAMAR

“Taking the challenge of finding out why the people are not mobilizing, do not say they are
hard-headed. Maybe they just don’t understand. Maybe our strategy is wrong. Maybe we are
not doing enough. Maybe that is the reason why they do not follow us,”

“Some say, “Why are you doing this when even doing this if you do nothing, your salary
won’t change?” It’s a matter of purpose. Why you’re here in this world. - Justo M. Derayunan Jr.,
Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Officer.
 “I really believe in my heart that children can be agents of change. If you build awareness
around disaster risk reduction and climate change now, you’ll have a future generation of
leaders who really get it.” - Carin van der Hor, Plan International

ALBAY

“In the past people here only thought of themselves. They thought only of their own beliefs,
their own ideas. They knew nothing about how to evacuate or which places where safe.”

“To really see our neighbors, we must look at one another. To really see each other, we
must really see one another . They say you need to be a politician, but no. You can help even
without a position.” - Lukas A. Balbin, Barangay Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council
(BDRRMC) Action Officer

“When the ASCEND project was introduced, that’s when we gained more ideas especially
the participatory approach. In other words, we can actually unite the community. It’s something
else when the people are involved in the decisions.That’s how we created the barangay
contingency plan. From the suggestions and the opinions of the entire community, came
together to make this happen.”

“Regarding our Indigenous People’s Sector, they were discriminated against. You need to
include them in the community, because I think we need to involve the entire community. We
need to show them that decisions are not only for barangay officials. We need to get involved.
We’re in this together.”

“It’s not just our lives we need to protect. In other words, we focused even more on
protecting our livelihood.”

“It’s not only our lives we are trying to protect. This isn’t just for ourselves. Our objective
here is to encourage others, then we will be able to inspire other communities, then we a get a
share something with the whole world.” - Dennis A. Daz, a volunteer of BDRRMC
 “I didn’t even expect to become president! With my condition now, I have a disability, but
they chose me. You shouldn’t think about being disabled or that you can’t do it. You should be
able to do it so you can help others.” - Wilfredo J. Balidoy, Building Disaster Resilient
Small-Island Communities Project (BDRSIP) President

“When you see how much they value at you say and what you do, it’s very touching. Even
implementing a simple system in a community can change their lives.” - CJ Damo, Coastal Core
Local Facilitator

SURIGAO DEL NORTE

“I felt that we could contribute a lot as women. Men are physically strong, yes, but we can
contribute something as women. ”

“It shouldn’t be whether you were educated or not, you shouldn’t just think of yourself. It
should be hard because we have families. But if you think about it, you are helping both your
family and those in the barangay.”

“Most often, it’s the women who do the community activities. They are the movers of the
development activities. - Rose Salino, MDRRMO

“The root cause of vulnerability is poverty.”

“I think the very important reason why they had zero casualties during the calamities they
experienced is because of their eagerness to learn, eagerness to help others. The main reason is
the people.” - Ricky Senoc, People’s Disaster Risk Reduction Network Oxfam Local Partner

“So much of the power is in the hand of so few. It sometimes feel that there are barriers
being put up whether formally or informally for people to actually break through. Because it is a
collective approach. It is the looking out for everybody. It’s only when we are looking out
collectively that we’re really going to be able to bring the change we want to see in the
Philippines.” - Justin Morgan, Oxfam

“On the basis of the experiences and the performance we’ve had so far, not only the
government, but the Filipino people. I would say that we’ve done a lot. However, as they say,
we’re not yet out of the woods. We have to develop a philosophy and a culture of resilience from
among the Filipino people.” - Undersecretary Alexander P. Pama, Office of Civil Defense