The Philippines

[Guest]

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[BenElberger]

Hey Guys,

FYI, we need to always make sure we can legally send and receive money back from countries in which we work.  Our legal team is currently investigating the Phillipines to see if this is a viable option.  We've definitely received interest from some MFIs there but we need to make sure everything is legal on the Filipino side (we understand it's not as simple/easy as other countries).

Thanks!
Ben

[KivanSteven]

Thanks for the info Ben.  Getting Kiva affiliated with MFIs in the Philippines will be a great opportunity and Im sure it will happen in due time.  Look forward to making my first loan to that country in the future...

[Jove]

Kiva should go to the Philippines. Microfinance is already an emerging financial services industry wherein cooperatives, rural banks, the national government, and even the central bank are active players. Though the entire industry is not as big as India's, the Philippines has a very diverse composition of microfinance players continuously innovating on products, services, methods, and organization. That is one reason why the country was awarded with the best microfinance industry in the world during the United Nations' Year of Microfinance last 2005.

In fact, I've just applied for a position a few days ago with Kiva specifically to expand Kiva's network in the country. I just hope something happens on my application.

[KivanSteven]

Thats great Jove...I hope it all works out for you...do let us know what you hear.  The Philippines has definitely been discussed here in the past as being one country many would really like to see Kiva become involved with.

[Sengbe Pieh]

Typhoon Ketsana slams into the Philippines & Vietnam with torrential rains & flooding.

MANILA (Reuters) – Philippine authorities braced on Tuesday for another storm as the toll from rain and floods from a weekend typhoon, now bearing down on Vietnam, rose to 246 dead while damages climbed to nearly $100 million.

Weather forecasters said a new storm forming in the Pacific Ocean was likely to enter Philippine waters on Thursday and make landfall later in the week on the northern island of Luzon, just like Saturday's Typhoon Ketsana.

Ketsana dumped more than a month's worth of average rainfall on Manila and surrounding areas in one 24-hour period. About 80 percent of the city of 15 million was flooded.

The Philippine government has come in for scathing criticism for its response to the disaster, with many calling it inadequate and delayed.

Authorities estimated damage from the storm so far at around 4.69 billion pesos ($98.5 million). More than 1.9 million people were affected and 375,000 had abandoned their homes and taken refuge in evacuation centers.

More than 3,000 houses were either damaged or destroyed.

The death toll could rise further once reports come in from remote areas. The storm hit metropolitan Manila and 12 provinces. Dozens remained missing and feared dead, disaster officials said.

"For casualties, the increase will be not as great, but the damage figures may increase," Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro told a news conference on Tuesday.

"Even opportunity loss of revenues for establishments, that alone would amount to hundreds of millions at least per day."

VIETNAM NEXT

Ketsana was to make landfall in central Vietnam later on Tuesday, where authorities have ordered the evacuation of at least 170,000 people....

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090929/ts_nm/us_philippines_typhoon;_ylt=Ah4FXdnPJvRNfX1xDFC_cchg.3QA;_ylu=X3oDMTJwY2FkOG9vBGFzc2V0A25tLzIwMDkwOTI5L3VzX3BoaWxpcHBpbmVzX3R5cGhvb24EY3BvcwM1BHBvcwM1BHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcmllcwRzbGsDcGhpbGlwcGluZXNi

Typhoon kills 32 in Vietnam; Philippine toll at 246

http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSSP49939720090929

[charity]

Kiva posted a blog post today about MFI CCTs effort in responding to the floods in the Phillippines.

...As of today, 18 of our staff and their families have houses that were flooded and their belongings damaged; several of them are now in evacuation centers. While 1,703 of our community partners/beneficiaries were severely affected, with houses and livelihoods damaged by the flooding.

As of September 27 (Sunday), we have provided food and clothing to 780 families of CCT’s community partners. We have also provided food and shelter to 250 street dwellers. CCT’s branch offices, especially in Rizal and Laguna are now being used as temporary shelters for some of the community partners....

They go on to ask for donations, but it is unclear how they recommend doing that. 

[Diane R]

Super Typhoon Megi is on it way through the Philippines on Monday, with winds of 178 mph (gusts up to 217 mph) recorded.  This is a monster storm, the strongest to threaten the Philippines in four years, stronger than those which caused the 2009 flooding, and it could do terrible damage.

The northern provinces of Cagayan and Isabela are on the highest storm alert.  Officials have warned that the heavy rain and high winds could damage buildings, power supplies and agriculture.  . . .  Government forecasters say waves off the east coast could be greater than 14m (46ft). . . .  Farmers were being urged to harvest as many of their crops as possible before the typhoon hit...  The area in the storm's path is one of the country's main rice-growing regions.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11562238

"Unfortunately, this is a part of the world where the infrastructure is quite fragile, the power grid is quite fragile and a lot of people live in quite basic houses."  . . .  The typhoon could also damage large amounts of agricultural land along its path.  "Thousands of hectares are in danger of being ruined," Cabrera said.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/10/17/philippines.typhoon/index.html

--Diane.