MANILA – On the same day that Typhoon Yolanda struck wide swaths of Visayas eleven years earlier, disaster victims, survivors, environmental groups and concerned citizens under the banner of People Surge marched to the Mendiola Bridge near Malacañang to slam the continuing government inaction, ineptness, and criminal culpability in the various disasters that have struck hence.
“Today we remember the thousands of lives and whole communities that were swept away by Yolanda. We wish that it was all in the past – but until now, typhoons Carina, Enteng, Kristine, and Marce have shown that the Philippine government, despite its claims to be champions of climate, are disastrously inept and criminally responsible for these disasters that continue to sweep us,” said Eco Dangla, spokesperson of People Surge.
“The continued push for environmentally destructive projects like large-scale mining, mega-dams, and massive forest conversion into private residential enclaves, have reduced the capacities of our watersheds to protect us from flooding. The continued displacement and lack of opportunities for our rural and urban poor have placed them at the mercy of calamity time after time,” Dangla added.
“Sa lahat ng ito, kitang kita na ang pinaboran lang ng gobyerno ay ang malalaking negosyante, at hindi kaming mga mamamayan.”
Urban poor victims of severe tropical storm Kristine from Metro Manila, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal joined the protest action in the country’s administrative capital.
Ariana Soledad from PAMALAKAYA – Cavite detailed the plight of affected rural poor.
“Since the pandemic we have been plummeted by multiple disasters, the biggest of which is the massive reclamation and consequent dredging for dump-and-fill operations in Manila Bay, that have washed away our homes and livelihoods and made us more vulnerable to flooding. Then the triple oil spills happened in July, and more recently, the widespread fires that gutted our himes in Bacoor,” they recalled. “Sa lahat ng ito, kitang kita na ang pinaboran lang ng gobyerno ay ang malalaking negosyante, at hindi kaming mga mamamayan,” (“From all this, it is very evident that the big companies are the only ones the government favored,”) they lamented.
“The continued displacement and lack of opportunities for our rural and urban poor have placed them at the mercy of calamity time after time.”
Eco Dangla
Mong Palatino, secretary-general of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, emphasized the glaring corruption surrounding disaster response: “In a blatant show of bureaucrat capitalism, the Marcos, Jr. administration has trumpeted the need for more infrastructure projects in response to massive disasters. Flood control infra projects are now the white elephants that are lining bureaucrat pockets as millions of Filipinos continue to suffer from the aftermath of Kristine, coupled with systemic inequality and poverty.”
Youth climate activists under the banner of Peoples Rising for Climate Justice and the Youth Advocates for Climate Action Philippines joined the action. Their representative, JC, enthused: “The poor and vulnerable in developing countries like the Philippines bear the brunt of the climate crisis that is rooted in the massive and continuing greenhouse gas emissions of wealthy countries, led by the United States. And yet like the good lap dog he is, we hear nothing from the Marcos, Jr. administration demanding accountability and justice from those morally and historically responsible for the disaster we are in,” they said.
“We demand justice, compensation, and accountability from those who are criminally responsible for the lives, homes, and livelihoods that have been lost.”
“What we are demanding is a genuine, environmentally sound, and socially just solution to the climate crisis. We are calling for an end to favoring cronies and foreign investors in industries like quarrying and mining, reclamation, power plants, highways and expressways, high-end villages, and private resorts—all at the expense of the livelihoods, homes, and lives that sustain us. We demand justice, compensation, and accountability from those who are criminally responsible for the lives, homes, and livelihoods that have been lost,” they ended.
To visualize their plight, disaster survivors drenched in mud walked the streets, coming after a Marcos, Jr. impersonator.
