MANILA, PHILIPPINES — The Embassy of Canada to the Philippines has announced financial backing for seven diverse organizations across the Philippines through the 2026 Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI). The selected projects span critical areas including local governance, environmental conservation, digital safety, journalism mentorship, information integrity, and humanitarian earthquake relief.
Canada’s Ambassador to the Philippines, David Hartman, underscored the vital role these grassroots partnerships play in fostering democratic progress.
“CFLI recognizes the fundamental importance to democracy of creating and preserving space for civil society, academia, human rights advocates, and their partners to work together constructively and collaboratively to advance shared goals for the improvement of local communities,” Ambassador Hartman said.
The seven recipient organizations and their respective community-focused projects include:
(1) National Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL) – Bantay ng Bayan Foundation: Youth Workshop on Citizen Participation in Local Governance in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) provides practical training to equip and empower young citizens to actively monitor and engage in local governance.
(2) Angat Buhay (Angat Pinas, Inc.): Angat Kalikasan: Youth Environmental Leadership Bootcamp strengthens the capacity of Filipino youth in the island provinces of Biliran and Basilan to champion environmental governance, climate resilience, and community-based action in disaster-prone regions.
(3) Child Rescue Coalition (CRC): Perpetrator Accountability of Demand-Side Offenders and Global Law Enforcement Collaboration through Digital Forensic on OSAEC Cases deploys tech-focused solutions to enhance local enforcement capabilities, enabling timely digital device extraction and examination to track down Online Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children (OSAEC) perpetrators.
(4) Balyena.org: Building science-based conservation for cetaceans in the Bohol Sea aims to improve marine mammal conservation and management by generating baseline data, drafting a national action plan, and running awareness campaigns to foster community-led monitoring.
(5) Journalism for Nation Building Foundation: Strengthening community journalism and civic engagement through Rappler’s civic engagement mentorship program builds a network of trained 'movers' to organize advocacy campaigns, report on local issues, and boost grassroots participatory democracy.
(6) Center for Information Resilience and Integrity Studies (CIRIS): Strengthening Democratic Resilience Among Filipino Youth Through Campus-Based Information Integrity Training and Advocacy in the Philippines equips university students with the skills and cognitive security required to identify, resist, and counter disinformation and Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI).
(7) Clean Water Int'l PH (CWIP): Emergency Safe Drinking Water Provision – Mindanao Earthquake Response 2026 delivers critical safe drinking water to isolated and underserved barangays in Davao Oriental and Sarangani Province following the June earthquake in southern Mindanao.
The CFLI is a competitive small-grants program administered by the Embassy of Canada in the Philippines. It delivers direct financial support to local initiatives promoting inclusive governance, women's and girls' empowerment, human rights protection, environmental defense, democracy strengthening, and the rule of law.
For more information regarding CFLI activities in the Philippines or proposal submission guidelines, interested parties can reach the Program Coordinator via email at manil.cfli@international.gc.ca.
