Charitable Intitutions in the Philippines

The Philippines is very vulnerable to natural disasters because of its natural setting. An archipelago surrounded by large bodies of water, the vast Pacific Ocean in the east, the China Sea and the Celebes Sea.  The Philippines is frequently visited by typhoons and is almost always affected by many weather disturbances and phenomenon. Aside from its weather condition, the country is geographically located in the Ring of Fire. Faults cut across the country’s islands and inland waters and Volcanoes scattered among the islands always presents the risk of the earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and associated phenomenon like tsunamis and aftershocks.

Aside from its inherent geographical situation, the Philippines’ socio-economic, political and environmental context – especially its widespread poverty very much hampered its Disaster Preparedness efforts and government social projects. Gifted with rich and diverse natural resources, the country still is unable to harness its full potential.

Because of this dismal situation, the country is facing, Charitable Institutions emerged. These Charitable Institutions are non-governmental organizations that aim to promote  social services and extend immediate assistance to marginalized groups that otherwise neglected by the governmental institutions tasked to do so or are in far areas outside government servicing capability. Because these institutions are entities outside the government, they receive less government financial support or none at all. They survive in the kindness and generosity of some private corporations and individuals, International funds and donations.

Charitable Institutions in the Philippines today find themselves performing a broad range of roles and providing a wide variety of expertise. These institutions focus not only on addressing issues of poverty and governance, but also building up alternative practices and developing visions and advocacies. Some of these institutions operates and involves in child care centers and orphanages, livelihood projects and short term vocational education of the marginalized, educational support and scholarships, outreach programs to urban-poor settlements and far-flung areas and agricultural programs and micro-enterprising. Others engaged in general service delivery to those who cannot afford private services, extend legal assistance on litigations and labor conflicts, medical services and outreach programs, and housing support.

Charitable Institutions rise to prominence and importance in Philippine communities. Charitable Institutions are very innovative and can adopt programs to local conditions on the communities they served more than the government’s centrally designed initiatives. They also have been cited for their capacity for rapid response and proximity to communities and beneficiaries. While government bureaucracy slows government response to immediate needs and calamities, Charitable Institutions can immediately raise funds by itself and deliver the needed help. Charitable Institutions are very popular to the marginalized because of their ability to articulate and popularize the sentiments of the poor and ability to exert more pressure on the government. They also are lauded with their ability to harness voluntary energy for development work, and ability to influence and touch the lives of their beneficiaries and donors.

As the importance of these Charitable Institutions is accepted by the people and the government, the government built a mechanism for participation of these institutions in decision-making and program implementation. The nature and extent of collaboration of Charitable Institutions and the Government is centered on social services and disaster relief. Although this collaboration mechanism exists, some of these institutions retain critical positions because of their advocacies on the protection of communities affected by government policies and development projects and private corporations’ development projects.

Charitable Institutions are indispensable in the Philippines. They established themselves as a complimentary institution to the Philippine Government in providing better life to the Filipino people and helping in nation building. As current socio-economic and political situations continue to exist or worsens and as calamities and disasters continue to hit the country, Charitable Institutions will always be needed and expected to deliver their roles on the community.