Emergency Employment and Livelihood Recovery for Super Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda): Coron, Palawan

MIMAROPA region consists of five provinces (Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan). Among these provinces, Palawan Province was the most devastated by Super Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) with 37 per cent (149,875 individuals) of the total affected individuals over the whole region.

Tourism, one of Palawan’s biggest income-generating resources, was severely affected, as attractions were damaged, access to them restricted, and tourism personnel’s lives disrupted. Infrastructure required rehabilitating and people needed capacitating with tourism-related skills training.

The agriculture sector was also heavily affected. Seedlings for cash crops were destroyed, livelihood assets for fishing were totally damaged, and raw materials for key industries were difficult to find. However, skills for fish cage-making, boat repairs and “sawali” (woven split bamboo mats) production were present in the community of Busuanga, and this in turn could supply materials needed in rehabilitation work by other communities in Coron.

Local government officials, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) counterparts saw the need for emergency employment activities as these could provide much needed cash to help people buy materials (e.g. fuel for boats, seedlings) to rebuild their homes and livelihoods immediately.

For further information please contact:

ILO Country Office for the Philippines (CO-Manila)
19th Floor, Yuchengco Tower
RCBC Plaza, 6819 Ayala Avenue
1200 Makati City, Philippines
Tel. +63 2 8580 9900
Fax +63 2 8856 7597
Email