Typhoon Ulysses, Rolly Impact in the Philippines and Climate Change Discussions
By: Congress Of Progressive Filipino Canadians
Tags: Philippines, Climate Change, Capitalism, Environmental Issues, Typhoon

“Paa” artpiece, Grand Maleta Exhibit, October 2010.

In November 2020, within the span of two-and-a-half weeks, the Philippines would be hit with two of the strongest typhoons of the year. The first to landfall was Super Typhoon Rolly (internationally known as “Goni”) on November 1st devastating 6 regions with strong winds, torrential rains, and heavy flooding in South, Central and Northern Luzon, and Eastern Visayas. In the aftermath 5 days later, 25 people had died, 399 people were injured, 6 people missing and 125 cities and towns were without electricity. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), has estimated that 66,000 metric tons of staple crops such as rice and corn were damaged valued at P8.47 billion (US$175.44 million), affecting approximately 18,000 farmers and their families. In less than a week, the even deadlier Typhoon Ulysses (internationally known as “Vamco”) reached Central Luzon on November 11 hitting much of the same areas ravaged by Rolly — Cagayan Valley being the worst hit. Heavy rains caused severe and widespread flooding resulting in 73 deaths, 19 missing and millions more left homeless, without food or electricity, displaced, and faced with far greater risk of COVID-19 exposure. The NDRRMC reports that the combined infrastructure and agricultural damage totals P17.9-billion (US$369 million) for Rolly and P12.6-billion (US$261 million) for Ulysses

As anti-imperialist progressive Filipinos in Canada, we denounce the structural failures of the Philippine government’s decrepit disaster response and management programs as well as their facilitation and collusion with multinational corporations in the destruction of the natural environment, ultimately exacerbating the climate crisis.

In an already dire and derelict situation — largely due to the national government’s already negligent handling of the ongoing COVID pandemic — response to the disaster stricken-areas have posed extreme difficulties never before seen. Rescue and relief operations were left with very inadequate tools, support, and resources to tackle both COVID-19 and the subsequent environmental calamities. Despite government officials using the pandemic to excuse the strained relief efforts, President Duterte and his administration’s decisions and actions have exposed their unwillingness to provide urgently needed help, and their inability to take long-term preventative measures. In a country so prone to tropical storms and super typhoons, each passing season has shown increased frequency and intensity. It is a great disservice and outright dangerous that the Philippine government places the lives, safety and well-being of people so low on the priority list by not investing in permanent evacuation centres, slashing calamity funds, and taking no action in creating proactive and long-term disaster mitigation and prevention programs.

What has been prioritized instead are useless “beautification” projects to revamp Manila Bay’s shores with P389-million ($8.09 million US) worth of artificial white sand while they continue to bolster the military and police budget by P20-billion ($416 million US) to enact the “Anti-Terror” law that targets dissidents and critics of the government. President Duterte has also been unresponsive when asked to reallocate a dedicated P16-billion of these funds to relief and rehabilitation efforts. Contrast this with the far lesser budget of P13.8-billion for survivors of the typhoons. Duterte’s war on the media and freedom of the press also has direct and egregious implications on the dissemination of vital and life-saving information, especially in cases of natural disasters. Television and media network ABS-CBN’s regional stations (the only source of news and information for many remote areas) were shut down by Duterte because of their critical coverage of his human rights abuses and blunders.

But even prior to all of this, the systemic neglect goes back to years of government cutbacks and closures of disaster risk reduction and response programs. Just last year, the NDRRMC budget was reduced from P20-billion to P16-billion — a significant step backward as the NDRRMC, a grouping of governmental and non-governmental organizations, were responsible for the calamity fund allocation, signal warning, evacuation, and rescue and relief responses in times of disasters and emergencies.

In February 2017, President Duterte shut down Project NOAH (Nationwide Operational Assessments of Hazards). NOAH was created after the onslaught of Typhoon Sendong (internationally known as “Washi”) in 2011. Between 2012 to 2017, they had developed and employed weather watch technologies, disaster impact and risk assessment tools, accessible communication platforms via social media and apps used to provide accurate, real-time and location-specific hazard maps. The state weather bureau PAGASA (Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration) took over Project NOAH’s programs and technologies after they were shut down even though the executive director of NOAH, Professor Mahar Lagmay (University of the Philippines), stated that their work was far from finished, completing only 60% of their hazard mapping when the program was defunded.

As much as mainstream media in the Philippines place blame on the people for supposedly lacking in discipline, it is the government’s money-driven policies that allow for natural resource extraction and processing by big industry and foreign corporations that catastrophically damage the environment and cause natural disasters to be more violent and deadly. Following a complaint from Greenpeace Southeast Asia and various environmental groups, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) of the Philippines announced during the 2015 United Nations’ international climate negotiations in Paris, that it would investigate oil and energy corporations with the aim of linking the heavy pollution caused by their ventures, to the worsening global climate crisis.

The commission has found that only 100 companies have been responsible for 70%, or almost 1 trillion tonnes, of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions since 1988. The majority of these companies are headquartered in first-world nations: Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron and Suncor. As of 2019, further findings by the CHR are being used to hold 47 fossil and carbon fuel companies legally liable for their contribution to climate change in connection to the deaths and damages caused by Typhoon Yolanda (“Haiyan” internationally) in 2013. If successful, it could open pathways to litigate corporate polluters for endangering lives and violating human rights all over the world.

Many advanced capitalist nations are insular and underestimate climate change, thinking of it as a ticking time bomb when hundreds of millions of people all over the global south have already been suffering the deadly impacts of the worsening global climate crisis for years. It is the poor, working class and indigenous people in developing countries like the Philippines that bear the brunt of global warming and climate change. Canada is deeply implicated in this global economic system that devastates poorer but resource-rich nations as it is heavily invested in mining industries for gold, copper, and nickel, as well as oil and logging in the Philippines.

“Mga Dahilan” art piece by Ken Santos. Grand Maleta Exhibit. October 2010.

There are currently 37 Canadian corporations in the Philippines in mining alone, including industry giants OceanaGold and Barrick Gold. With a mandate to protect the government’s economic interests, these Canadian corporations are backed by the Philippine Army and other paramilitary groups and commit atrocities against land and people. Indigenous communities fighting back have been pushed out of their ancestral lands, displaced, brutalised, murdered and tagged as terrorists by the state. Since Dutere’s term began, there have been at least 157 farmers, environmentalists, community leaders and land defenders killed according to human rights watch groups.

The deforestation and open-pit mining have caused landslides and have taken away the environment’s ability to absorb, control excess water, and slow down floods during heavy rainfalls. The destruction and poisoning of agricultural lands have also ruined people’s livelihoods and local economies. Water and air pollution largely caused by gold mining have turned rivers and valleys biologically dead and unable to sustain life. Long term health problems have developed in local community members such as cancers, skin irritation, respiratory problems and blood contamination with many having high levels of lead, arsenic, mercury and other toxic heavy metals.

Among the international responses, tens of millions in money, food and supplies have been donated to help typhoon Rolly and Ulysses survivors. The European Union has donated $1.56 million, the United Kingdom $1.2 million, the United Arab Emirates $9.37 million, China $458, 000, and Singapore, Taiwan and the United States each donating $200,000. But given the Philippine government’s track record in corruption and profiteering from disaster capitalism — as in the case of tens of millions of dollars gone missing in the typhoon Yolanda relief fund scandal in 2013 — these donations are prone to fall through the cracks and appropriated by officials.

As a people affected by super typhoons and hurricanes on a regular basis, Filipinos have been praised for their resiliency and knack for survival. But to paraphrase Filipino activist and author Ninotchka Rosca, to simply typecast Filipinos as resilient and unchanged is an insult in the face of much tragedy, trauma and suffering, which are all undermined and in an instant erased, for who can remain and continue as they were after facing great loss and hardships. This misleading narrative of Filipino resiliency in times of calamity has also taken away the blame and attention from the authorities entrusted with the responsibility to prevent or at least mitigate the impacts of natural disasters. The government is every bit responsible and needs to be held accountable for the lack of infrastructure and social programming to meet the people’s needs in times of crisis and beyond.

The Congress of Progress Filipino Canadians stand in support and solidarity with the poor, working class and indigenous peoples affected by the typhoons and with land defenders leading democratic movements resisting foreign corporations and the corrupt repressive regime in the Philippines. As anti-imperialist Filipinos in Canada, we denounce the Canadian government for enabling Canadian mining corporations to wreak havoc in the Philippines and in other developing countries. All over the world, we are seeing countries struggle to put together concerted efforts to tackle the impacts of wrecked ecosystems beyond carbon taxes attempting to control greenhouse gas emissions. Environmental degradation and social injustices are products of capitalism and imperialism, showing us that the need to build a global movement for climate justice is inextricably linked to movements for social justice. Beyond charity and mutual aid, we will need to combat the systemic structures in place that prioritize corporate capital gain above all else and look towards systemic changes that seek to advance the interests of the people and protect the natural world, our health, safety, well-being, and our very lives.

Hold governments accountable!

People’s interests over corporate greed!

Clean and healthy environment is a human right!

Social change not climate change!

Climate justice now!