As Typhoon Ruby (International name: Hagupit) enters the Philippine Area of Responsibility today, Lumad and peasants from Mindanao encamped in Liwasang Bonifacio say they have more to fear from “the typhoon that is Noynoy than Ruby”. They hit President Aquino’s accountability in many disasters in the country since he took office, from Sendong (international name: Washi) in 2011, the habagat rains and Pablo (International name: Bopha) in 2012 and Yolanda (International name: Haiyan) in 2013. They say the natural calamities in the country have become large-scale disasters “due to government’s slow response, neglect, politicized relief distribution and privatized rehabilitation efforts.”
Typhoon Ruby is expected to make landfall at Borongan, Eastern Samar tomorrow daybreak. The typhoon is now packing winds at 185 kph, projected to make five landfalls, take the same path as Yolanda (International name: Haiyan) and would cause storm surges up to 4.5 meters high (as of the PAGASA briefing this morning). Parts of Mindanao will be among the first to experience the wrath of Ruby.
Around 300 Lumad and peasants arrived in Metro Manila on November 21 to protest militarization and mining in their areas. Many of the participants of Manilakbayan ng Mindanao came from areas affected by typhoons Sendong and Pablo.
The Manilakbayanis also hit the President’s continuing silence on their plight.
“It has been days since we’ve arrived in Manila, and still we haven’t heard a single word from President
Aquino. It seems that the storm is faster than President Aquino,” said Datu Jomorito Goaynon, Manilakbayan ng Mindanao spokesperson.
Manilakbayan ng Mindanao is a month-long campaign of Lumad and peasants from Mindanao, which aims to bring to the public’s attention what the Manilakbayanis refer to as “continuing state-sponsored political repression and environmental plunder caused by large-scale mining corporations”
Datu Goaynon blames large-scale logging and mining operations in the Mindanao region as “one of the causes of environmental destruction” and “aggravation of effect of calamities as witnessed in the devastation caused by Sendong and Pablo.”
“After Typhoon Pablo devastated Compostela Valley, We did not get any support from the government, we were able to survive due to our own determination” related Datu Isidro Indao of PASAKA, an organization of indigenous people in Mindanao.
Typhoon Pablo caused 1,020 deaths according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Damages to livelihood and infrastructure amounted to P36.B, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.
