We are looking forward to welcoming Andrea Manenti, Director of our Manchester office, back after a gruelling deployment to the Philippines with the Red Cross.

People across the Philippines are struggling to rebuild and recover after a string of disasters in quick succession that have stretched resources to their limits – a 6.9 magnitude earthquake in northern Cebu on 30 September, followed by Typhoon Kalmaegi (3-5 November) and Super Typhoon Fung-Wong (8-9 November).

Together these disasters have affected more than 13.4 million people. More than 1,400,000 houses have been damaged or destroyed, with significant damage to infrastructure and public buildings. The combined casualty toll (dead and missing) is just over 400, with the vast majority of these due to violent flash flooding caused by Typhoon Kalmaegi.

Four months after the Cebu earthquake and three months after Typhoons Kalmaegi and Fung-Wong, the focus is turning towards early recovery,especially shelter assistance, cash grants and ensuring people have access to safe water and sanitation facilities.People are still struggling to clean up and rebuild their homes. Some evacuation centres remain open but thousands of people who lost everything have returned to high-risk areas and are living in makeshift shelters and tents because they have nowhere else to go.  For many, their source of income has been disrupted or destroyed, making it difficult to cover everyday expenses for their families. It is essential that people who have been most affected have access to appropriate support that enables them to meet their immediate needs – such as food, water, household items, transport, schooling – but also helps build a safer, more secure future – including shelter, livelihoods, psychosocial support.   

Philippine Red Cross (PRC) mobilised volunteers across the country to support anticipatory action, including helping people get to safe shelters, distributing emergency supplies, and offering community-based assistance. During the storm, teams conducted rescues and supported access to medical care, as well as providing first aid, hot meals, safe drinking water and welfare services in evacuation centres. In the months since they have been distributing essential household and hygiene items, food packs, cash grants and shelter toolkits.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is providing critical support to PRC. Almost CHF2 million was quickly released from IFRC’s Disaster Response Emergency Fund to kickstart the response, while further funding and technical support is being provided under an Emergency Appeal.

Andrea deployed early in January to cover the second rotation as Shelter Programme Coordinator and as part of the Surge team of the IFRC, seconded by the Canadian Red Cross where he’s an active Shelter Delegate.

IFRC Surge Teams provide rapid, specialized expertise (for example, shelter, logistics, health, communications, livelihoods, security) to National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies during large-scale disasters. When requested, IFRC deploys trained professionals to fill critical gaps, strengthen local capacity, and contribute to complex operations through supporting activities such as needs assessments, cash distribution, shelter setup, and public messaging, ensuring a faster, more effective humanitarian response by offering ‘right people, right place, right time’ support.

Andrea is assisting the PRC to develop their plans for the recovery phase of their activities, providing technical support to the PRC shelter team. After an initial briefing at the PRC’s national office in Manila, Andrea has travelled to some of the affected areas in central Philippines, in particular to Cebu City and Bogo City on Cebu Island, and Negros Island. Field trips provide a deeper understanding of the extent of the damage at household level in order to optimise response and implementation provided by the PRC.