oad Republika ng Pilipinas Komisyon ng Karapatang Pantao ng Pilipinas (Commission on HumanRights ofthe Philippines) PREFACE In the wake of natural disasters, inequalities are often made visible as the most marginalized are at greaterrisk of displacementand loss oflivelihood. Experience has underscored the importance of getting recovery efforts right from a human rights perspective so that pre-existing patterns of vulnerability and disadvantage are neither perpetuated nor reinforced. The context in which the international community comes together to help the Philippines rise from the destruction brought about by typhoonYolandais no exception. We believe that the Philippines should seize this opportunity to address these concerns as promptly and effectively as possible, and to prevent their recurrence by applying relevant international human rights norms and standards. Making comprehensive efforts to realize the right to adequate housing in reconstruction efforts is an opportunity. While disaster response will not — and should not — replace development efforts, it provides an occasion to redress the inequalities that either exacerbated the natural disaster’s impacts or were made visible by it, and to contribute to efforts to progressively realize the right to adequate housing for all, notably by improving tenure security. In this spirit, this advisory on housing, land and property rights has been jointly developed to guide relevant national government agencies, local government units, affected communities and other stakeholders on the human rights-based approachto housing, land and property concernsarising in the context of the humanitarian responseto naturaldisasters. The large scale of destruction of housing,andthe highlevel of displacement caused by the typhoonhas called attention to the question of housing, land and property tights. Disaster relief and recovery efforts have so far, with notable exceptions,