In a bitter irony, on the day of this year’s International Day of Climate Action, Filipinos had to hold on for dear life as yet another climate disaster, severe tropical storm Kristine, grazed against our lands and communities, while the rest of the world looked ahead to commemorate their respective steps towards a cleaner, safer environment for the future.
The Marcos, Jr. administration’s recent actions (or the lack thereof) harshly reflect this point perfectly, if not disappointingly. Last week, he hosted the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction and proudly announced the Philippines’ election to the International Loss and Damage Fund Board, crowing about his so-called dedication to inclusivity and leadership “in ensuring that the voices of those most affected by climate change shape the future of international climate policies.” Yet this self-congratulatory rhetoric stands in glaring contrast to his defense just a week ago of the very mining companies and their moguls responsible for environmental destruction, declaring them ‘top examples’ of environmental stewardship during his Presidential Mineral Industry Environmental Awards. All of this, despite the months-long clamor to have these very same mining firms be closed down and apprehended immediately as people, especially of Albay and Rizal provinces, continue to suffer the consequences of their unchecked deforestation and quarrying actions.
“Our vision is clear—to reduce disaster risks and losses, and in doing so, protect lives, livelihoods, and the social and economic assets that underpin our societies.”
Did he ever inform these international bodies even how his latest State of the Nation Address provided not a sliver of explanation for the genuine climate mitigation needs of the country? Or how he is using the global transition race towards cleaner energy to legalize multinational plunder in our soils and seas, stripping us of precious minerals while we get left behind, poorer and more at risk to calamities by the year?
Our politicians now find themselves spewing the term ‘climate change’ around in every situation they can get as if to shield themselves from both accountability and embarrassment, but this also seems to be the farthest they have taken in major steps towards climate justice. As a matter of fact, the public has long raised the alarm to ‘climate emergency’ and ‘climate service’ while their mere lip service remains stuck with ‘climate change,’ but how would they know anyway when they do not ever truly listen to us, right?
But the general public is getting sharper now at seeing past these hollow reassurances. Just weeks ago, Typhoons Carina and Enteng wreaked havoc across Rizal and Metro Manila. We witnessed in disgust how President Marcos, Jr. dismissed widespread calls to end mining in the Sierra Madre with a flippant ‘It’s just climate change. Oh, and just don’t throw your trash just about everywhere.’ And then we saw this similar irresponsible blurting yesterday, this time from their acting-Vice Governor Bongao, when asked in an interview on what could have been the factors to their town in Albay being buried under a slurry of floodwater, lahar, and volcanic aggregates after Kristine dumped more than two months’ worth of rain in a day. Despite escalating calls for accountability, all the vice governor sputtered amounted to ‘It’s mostly climate change. And clogged gutters.’ This casual evasion of responsibility by invoking ‘climate change’ into their lip service is becoming a more evident pattern in their convenient defense for inaction while we bear the greatest brunt of their incompetence. And we call them out now for it.
There truly remains hope, and it is not in this administration but among us Filipinos. It is only most apt that we are seeing more clearly through the systemic issues that these climate tragedies continue to expose. Each storm reveals, more sharply, the need to hold those in power accountable for their failure to address our nation’s vulnerability to climate change. This is the exact reason why yesterday, the hashtag ‘#NasaanAngPangulo’ trended again, resurfacing the people’s growing frustration with their leadership’s inadequate response to yet another crisis.
“The point right now is that the storm is actually still off of our coast, it’s not yet in – it hasn’t made landfall yet. So, the worst is yet to come, I’m afraid. So, let’s all prepare – let’s just all prepare so that the minute that we get the signal that it’s okay to go in, we’ll all be able to go in… There’s nothing we can do except wait for it to pass… Give all the warnings that we can give. Evacuate as many people as we can. But we really have to just batten down the hatches for a day.”
Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.
And to rub salt deeper into our flood-soaked wounds, Marcos, Jr. capped off yesterday with his seemingly dumbfounded stance that he felt a “little helpless” in the face of Kristine’s devastation, particularly in Bicolandia. The best he could offer the Filipinos in the wake of yet another calamity? A pathetic “All we can do is sit tight, wait, hope, pray that there’s not too much damage, that there are no casualties.”
We cannot simply “sit tight” while our calls for meaningful action and accountability continue to be swept under these collapsing earth and racing floods. We are now in the time of our history that our minimal survival from one tragedy after another has become our very climate protest against their ineptitude.
Your time is up, Marcos. Your failure to genuinely heed to and act upon the Filipinos’ calls for climate justice have not gone unnoticed. We will not be simply swept away by these calamities while you soak up your disinformation-fed accolades and just ‘pray away’ your way into another year, another term, another dynasty to kill us Filipinos with. You, your cronies, and your local government puppets have long been pests and tragedies to us Filipinos.
“The degradation of crucial watersheds and poor disaster governance have led to massive disasters. It’s time for science-based solutions that involve community participation to prevent further calamities.”
Narod Eco
Keep on doing nothing about this climate emergency, and we will bury you beneath its wake first, before it even ever does us.
To every Filipino affected by these crises, this is why it is just to protest. When the government has become nothing more than a corrupted failure, then our rights to speak up and dissent become a responsibility. It is only time we rise up more than ever today, and take back the power they so clearly abuse only.
It is only high time we become the environmental defenders our nation desperately cries for. Because nothing in the likes of Marcos, Jr. is what we need. The power to save our environment was ours first, and ours to take back and act on today.
