KALIKASAN PEOPLE’S NETWORK FOR THE ENVIRONMENT & PHILIPPINE UPR WATCH
PRESS STATEMENT
8 November 2023

Hustisya para sa Biktima ng Yolanda at ng Krisis sa Klima! On the 10th Anniversary of Typhoon Yolanda

Kalikasan PNE joins the Filipino people in commemorating the 10th anniversary of the landfall of Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) today, November 8. We also call for continued accountability from the Philippine government for its criminal negligence in the face of climate disasters, the mindless policies of plunder that persist to this day, and the relentless attacks against climate and environmental defenders calling for climate justice.

It has been one decade since Typhoon Yolanda claimed thousands of lives and robbed thousands more of housing and livelihood. With the Yolanda disaster, we witnessed how worsening climate change is made even worse by inadequate state response, as seen in the grueling and protracted recovery process from the disaster. Since then, however, the Filipino people have gone through several more climate disasters in the face of worsening climate change. Typhoons Dodong, Egay, and Goring claimed dozens of lives just this year; shear line rains in December through January claimed nearly a hundred more. Despite this, nothing tangible has changed in state policy and practice regarding its response to climate disasters.

All of these impacts are exacerbated by the plunderous policies that continue to shape Philippine ecology. The Marcos Jr. administration is content with legal frameworks such as the Philippine Mining Act of 1995, the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001, and many others which provide the basis for the plunder of our environment. Mining operations, fossil fuel plants, reclamation projects, and false climate solutions like megadams have pushed through under Marcos Jr., with little concern for how these projects threaten communities and worsen climate impacts.

Resistance to these projects are likewise penalized through draconian state policies. Red-tagging continues through state institutions like the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict and the Anti-Terrorism Council. Other threats such as illegal arrests, abduction, and extrajudicial killings are still live issues for defenders. Climate and environmental defenders have been subject to these attacks, preventing communities from standing up against injustices brought about by climate change and state neglect. Cases like the recent abduction of anti-reclamation advocates Jonila Castro and Jhed Tamano show a clear example of how the Marcos Jr. treats advocates supporting communities in the context of climate disasters.

It is in this light that we call out the Marcos Jr. administration for its failure to respond to the climate and human rights crisis plaguing the Filipino people. We stand with the broad masses in our call for justice, for the victims of Typhoon Yolanda and all other victims of climate disasters, and for all victims of the backwards policies of the state. In line with the ongoing country visit of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Climate Change and Human Rights, we call on the international community to stand with the Filipino people and push back against the climate injustice only made worse by the disaster known as Marcos Jr.

CLIMATE JUSTICE NOW!
ANG KRISIS SA KLIMA, HUWAG NIYO NANG GATUNGAN!

#ClimateJusticeNow

#DefendTheDefenders