Ahead of a United Nations emergency summit tackling climate issues, environmentalists converged in New York City to put pressure on world leaders to act on the climate issues hounding the planet. Manila-based environmental activists, labor group, and social justice activists also partake in the global protest.
Manila protesters brought along placards demanding environmental justice especially for those deaths brought by the adverse effects of climate change in the country.
Lead by Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE) rallyists marched from Recto Avenue in Manila to the gates of the Malacanan Palace at Mendiola Bridge. Similar activities were also held in other parts of the country as in Davao City, Dumaguete, and Lucban town.
It can be remembered that thousands were killed and went missing after the onslaught of Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) in Central Philippines. A representative of People Surge, an alliance of Haiyan survivors is also present at the Climate Change March in New York.
Dr. Efleda Bautista, Executive Vice-Chairperson of People Surge went to New York to tell the international community the mishap of the Filipinos with Haiyan and the government’s inaction after.
Survivors of Haiyan have formed a group to demand justice from the Philippine government from its ‘criminal negligence’ and also its inaction on environmental issues.
The groups said that the Aquino government remains unaccountable to the widespread problems experienced by disasters because of its disaster management policies that largely focused on reactive and corruption-prone contingency funding measures.
DAP hit
Leon Dulce, campaign coordinator of Kalikasan PNE said that the DAP funded projects for disaster risk management remain unaccounted for. “The numbers do not lie, P23.84 billion worth of DAP-funded disaster related projects are yet to be accounted. At least 14,500 victims remain homeless in tent cities,” said Dulce in a statement.
During the program, he also said that the much-hyped DAP-funded projects of the Aquino government for disaster management have all been proven to be inefficient and may have been subjected to corruption as major cities in the metropolis were submerged on floodwater during the onslaught of tropical typhoon Mario worsened by the monsoon.
Protesters are demanding for the UN to act in curbing the damages and effects of climate change in the whole world through an international pact regarding carbon emissions.
The United States is the leading country with carbon emissions.
