Tag Archives: Typhoon Ketsana

[In the news] Sendong death toll nears 1000, more than double Ondoy fatalities – www.gmanetwork.com

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Sendong death toll nears 1000, more than double Ondoy fatalities

(Updated 9:07 a.m.) The number of fatalities from Tropical Storm Sendong (international codename Washi) threatened to breach the 1,000 mark early Tuesday, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said Tuesday morning before the scheduled visit of President Benigno Aquino III.

In its 6 a.m. update, the NDRRMC listed at least 957 people had been confirmed dead, with at least 49 still missing.

This number is already double the number of fatalities from Typhoon Ondoy in 2009. Many of those who died last weekend lived along riverbanks or on islets in the middle of Cagayan de Oro River, which state geologists said should never have been inhabited.

Cagayan de Oro recorded the highest number of deaths so far, with 579, which are already more than Ondoy’s 464 fatalities. Many of those killed lived on Isla de Oro, an islet close to the banks of the heavily silted Cagayan de Oro River.

A total of 1,582 had been reported injured while 432 were rescued, the report added.

Also, the NDRRMC said “Sendong” had affected 63,079 families or 338,415 people in 260 villages in 30 towns and eight cities in 13 provinces.

Read full article @ www.gmanetwork.com

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[Event] Blog Action Day for Climate Justice – FCAID

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In solidarity with the victims of typhoons Ondoy (“Ketsana”), Pepeng, Frank and all other extreme weather events and disasters of the past here in Manila and all over the Philippines, the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ) and the Freelance Writers of the Philippines (FWP) call on writers/bloggers/media workers to write their literary pieces, essays, tweets and slogans on “climate justice”. All these are to be submitted on September 26, 2011. See related FWP FB doc (Writers Unite) for details.

For those with blogs, you can upload your article in your own blogs and at the same time submit it on the day itself (platform or link to this site will be posted on Thursday). For those without blogs, you can submit your articles and pieces via climatejustice@groups.facebook.com. Also do follow us in twitter (@clim8justicePH) and flood it with your tweets on climate justice.

We see that writers can play a big role in this effort to best articulate the issue especially with political, manipulative moves by the rich, industrialized and overly-consuming countries (Annex 1), which don’t want to be accountable from their past actions on too much greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) brought about by unfettered industrialization and accumulation of profit. This hampers genuine actions to mitigate the impacts of climate crisis to the most vulnerable communities especially the indigenous people. We believe that writers can share the passion in spreading the message. Actions must be taken before the situation becomes even worst.

For the Philippine-setting, writers/bloggers can use the destruction of Sierra Madre Mountain Range in Central Luzon (forest and climate) and typhoon Ondoy as concrete examples where you can apply the concept of climate justice. There are many news articles, which you can use as source for these two cases. Aside from the 2nd year since Ondoy hit Manila, it’s also the Save Sierra Madre Day as proclaimed by Malacañang.

The following sources can be used to understand climate justice: Jubileesouth Asia Pacific Movement on Debt & Dev’t (JSAPMDD), Climate Justice Now! (CJN) , Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), World Bank Out of Climate Finance!, Third World Network (TWN) and Friends of the Earth International (FoE UK).

This is an awareness-raising initiative to push people to take action against climate change by claiming climate justice.

In return for those who will contribute, all submissions are bylined, with back-links for the promotion of their blogs. As contributions come in on that day, names of contributors will be mentioned in the tweets of clim8justicePH. If the writer/blogger is affiliated with FWP, we request him/her to mention that he/she is a member of FWP.

PMCJ is a movement composed of the affected sectors and communities, CSOs and POs that stand united in demanding for what we call climate justice. It is a concept that dwells on the anthropogenic or human causes of climate change, demanding the rich, industrialized, overly-consuming countries (Annex 1) to be held accountable for their abuse of the atmospheric space due to their too much emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Although globally all countries must do their share in solving the climate crisis, PMCJ believes that those countries, which caused the most damage must do more and make a significant contribution in resolving the crisis.

PMCJ also brings forward the demands and amplify the voices of the most affected and vulnerable communities, which is a step towards claiming climate justice.

This initiative is also in partnership with the Faith-based Congress of the Philippines (FCAID) and the Freelance Writers of the Philippines (FWP).

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[Press Release] Claretian Priest, Kris Literacy Group Call for Humane Treatment of Relocated Informal Settlers – Kristiyano-Islam Peace Library

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Ondoy Children Enjoy Books. Children traumatized by Typhoon Ondoy and the fires and violent demolitions in Metro Manila excitedly go over children’s books in the community library put up by the Claret Urban Poor Apostolate (CUPA) and the Kristiyano-Islam Peace Library (Kris) at a resettlement area in Montalban, Rizal. CUPA and Kris officials have called on the government to improve living conditions in resettlement areas so as not to waste P27 billion in reconstruction programs with many relocatees returning to the metropolis to escape harsh living conditions in resettlement sites. Photo by KRIS

A Claretian priest and organizers of the Kristiyano-Islam Peace Library (Kris) opened up a community library in a resettlement site in Montalban, Rizal Friday with a call for the humane treatment of relocated victims of Typhoon Ondoy and Metro Manila fires and demolitions.
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