Monday, September 22, 10:00 AM Liwasang Bonifacio to Mendiola Peace Arch near Malacanang Palace
Mendiola
Manila, Philippines
It has been more than nine months after the Philippines experienced the impact of Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), making it the ground zero of the global climate crisis. The response efforts of the national government under President Noynoy Aquino, from emergency response to recovery and rehabilitation, have been marred by state neglect, corruption, and unresponsiveness to people’s concerns and non-government efforts.
Absurdly, the Aquino government came out with its so-called P171-billion Yolanda rehabilitation master plan only at this juncture when the burgeoning ‘tent cities’ of survivors have already suffered anew from El Nino phenomenon-spurred droughts, extreme rainfall events and other climate change-driven hazards.
'DISASTER PORK'
The Aquino government has also consistently used the chronic extreme disaster and climate vulnerability of the country to justify its various ‘pork barrel’ (that is, lump sum and discretionary to the politicians’ will in nature) programs such as the Disbursement Acceleration Program and the Priority Development Assistance Fund embedded in the various national government agencies.
These pork barrel funds will supposedly serve as contingency funds in time for disasters, a practice long criticized by humanitarian organizations and climate activist groups as systematically reactive and prone to corruption.
A number of controversial environmentally destructive projects, such as the Jalaur Mega Dam, are pushing through because of these corrupt financing schemes.
In a clear attempt of greenwashing these ongoing climate crimes, Pres. Aquino did not apologize for—and instead hailed—both the bungled government Yolanda response and its unconstitutional pork barrel program during his 2014 State of the Nation Address.
EMERGENCY POWERS
Amidst the impacts of new disasters, Pres. Aquino and his allies have pushed for the declaration of ‘emergency powers’ under the country’s energy policy, the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA). Emergency powers will give the national government the authority to enlist private power producers in procuring temporary diesel power plants to address the country’s worsening 400-500 MW power deficit.
The push for emergency powers highlighted two core problems in the EPIRA: first, it has exposed the government’s surrender of its responsibility to direct such a strategic industry as the power sector, as the law barred the national government from actively building power plants to address the energy crisis—it has left the responsibility of developing power generation to the hands of private big business.
Second, it revealed the government’s lack of effective regulatory mechanisms on the power industry. Under the EPIRA’s policy of privatizing the power industry, it has allowed private firms to dictate or manipulate the electricity rates, prioritize power generation from diesel, coal, and other fossil fuels supposedly for its cheap cost. Despite this, we still have a thin power supply and soaring power costs.
POWER TO THE PEOPLE!
The Aquino government’s neglect on both ends of the climate crisis—from fossil fuel expansionism, corrupt environmental governance to disaster injustice—has compelled the Filipino people to rise up in protest of this abhorrent situation.
From the thousands-strong mobilizations of Yolanda survivors under the Tindog and People Surge alliances, to the resurgent movement against pork barrel corruption and energy privatization, the spirit of people power is growing into a critical mass ready to march through the streets to call for meaningful change in the system.
As its contribution to bringing the people’s calls on the world’s leaders to address the climate crisis, the Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE) and the International League of People’s Struggle – Philippines (ILPS-Phils) will march to the national seat of power, Malacanang Palace.