Six typhoons in 25 days
Between October to November 2024, six typhoons struck the Philippines, causing extensive damage. These typhoons destroyed houses and triggered tidal surges and caused widespread power outages affecting 15 million people and displacing 5 million people across the country.
Sanna supported the Philippines typhoon response through her deployment with the WFP, in partnership with the Government of the Philippines’ Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) through targeted humanitarian cash assistance. Sanna believes that humanitarian cash assistance is truly an important tool in disaster response and is especially effective in the Philippines national context.
‘If you look at the Philippines, the country is highly prone to disasters – we have typhoons, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Humanitarian cash transfers have been an essential tool to respond to these disasters. If you take Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) in 2013, it was the typhoon that prompted a significant shift towards more cash-based interventions due to the scale of the disaster and the needs that were there,’ noted Sanna.
‘Looking at the Philippines in particular, the financial landscape is very developed. There are many financial service providers operating across the country, traditional banks, mobile money operators, FinTechs, pawn shops and remittances centres. People are very used to using these services. In general, the financial system is very reliable and supports real-time transfers as well.’
Respect, dignity and informed choices
Humanitarian cash assistance or transfers are payments made in the form of physical cash, digital payments or cash vouchers to people affected by disasters. It is estimated that 20% of humanitarian assistance globally is through cash assistance, a number Sanna would like to see increase over time because of its positive benefits.
‘In general, there’s so many positive sides to cash assistance, compared to in-kind assistance. For myself, personally, I feel like empowerment is the most important aspect. I often hear that from people affected by disasters themselves because cash provides them with more flexibility, more choice and empowers them by giving them the flexibility to decide themselves how best to meet their needs,’ said Sanna.
‘Traditionally, with in-kind assistance, you can see people affected by disaster as passive recipients of aid. But cash allows them to make the decisions themselves and acknowledges their ability to manage their own lives and make informed choices. For me, that’s the most important part.’
‘Everybody’s situation is unique, their circumstances are unique. Even though they might have gone through a typhoon, people’s circumstances are unique to themselves. One family might need food, another family might need to rebuild their shelter or buy medical supplies. Cash really enables them to meet their own needs in the best way possible. It also provides dignity. Traditionally, with in-kind assistance, you can see people affected by disaster as passive recipients of aid. But cash allows them to make the decisions themselves and acknowledges their ability to manage their own lives and make informed choices. For me, that’s the most important part.’
Critical and timely humanitarian assistance
The Philippines typhoon response was able to provide timely and critical cash assistance to people affected by disaster within the first two weeks of the first typhoons’ landfall. This was made possible through the close partnership between the WFP and the Philippines Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), through a flagship poverty alleviation program, commonly known as the ‘4P’s’ (Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program).
‘The DSWD has a social protection program – the 4P’s. This is a conditional cash transfer program that targets impoverished households that have children. This program’s goal is to alleviate immediate poverty while investing in the future human capital of the population, and we used this program in our typhoon response,’ said Sanna.
‘The DSWD shared their beneficiary list with WFP, and we provided a top-up to 4P’s registered households in the most affected areas of the country. As the 4P’s families were already the most vulnerable population, we matched that with the most affected areas and were able to reach them extremely quickly – it took us two weeks to get cash into their bank accounts.’
‘In the ideal world, cash transfers would be designed to reach the most vulnerable people, including women, children, the elderly, people with disabilities and ensuring that no-one is left behind.’
While humanitarian cash assistance has its benefits, Sanna also recognises its challenges and its inability to apply to all humanitarian contexts. Sanna also notes that there is vast inequality in the development of financial and digital markets between the cities and rural areas in the Philippines. This is especially highlighted in areas commonly known as ‘GIDA’ in the Philippines: Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas.
‘In some areas, we’re relying on cash in hand deliveries which we have to tell our financial service providers and partners to get the cash in the field. Getting the cash from the cities to rural areas might take more than 3 days. There are also more challenging locations, like the island of Rapu-Rapu. It’s quite far, it’s 3.5 hours by boat. Most of the barangays in the municipality don’t have internet or mobile connectivity, so digital transfers won’t work. There’s also no road connectivity on the island, so you have to reach the barangays by boat… It’s like a puzzle.’ said Sanna.
Cash as a go-to method
As part of Sanna’s deployment, she also represents WFP in national cash coordination mechanisms, such as the National Cash Working Group. For Sanna, this is the forum to collaborate with government, non-governmental organisations and other organisations to coordinate cash interventions, share best practices and lessons learnt, and ensure a harmonised approach in the delivery of cash assistance.
‘I would definitely like to see more cash assistance. It’s not feasible in every context, but there’s definitely room to do more. My ideal future with cash assistance – I would hope that cash would be the ‘go to’ method for immediate relief in emergencies because there’s potential to be really fast with this, especially with the new technology and how it’s moving to the future. And because people affected by disasters can access exactly what they need and won’t be given something they may not need, for example… In the ideal world, cash transfers would be designed to reach the most vulnerable people, including women, children, the elderly, people with disabilities and ensuring that no-one is left behind.’
Disclaimer: The information and views published here are the individual’s own and do not necessarily represent the partner organisation, Australia Assists or the Australian Government’s views, positions or opinions.