Civil society network seeks pro-environment practices

1. Justice! Justice! Justice!

CAGAYAN DE ORO -- A network of civil society organizations from different regions in Mindanao is seeking environmental justice for over a thousand victims of Tropical Storm Sendong (international name: Washi).

Bulig Alang sa Mindanao (Balsa Mindanao) in a forum on Thursday themed “A look into 40 days after Sendong... what lies ahead?” called for a thorough review of policies that allow commercial-scale business operations in ecologically sensitive areas such as Bukidnon, the source of six major river systems in Mindanao.

Balsa Mindanao’s preliminary research findings posited that among the contributors to the gravity of Sendong’s destruction could be the pineapple and small banana plantations around the tributaries of Cagayan River.

“We do not have hard data yet,” said Jomorito C. Goaynon, chairperson of Kalumbay, a regional formation of Indigenous Peoples.

“But the testimonies of our Higaonon brothers who have been living around the area for 50-70 years show that the alteration of the landscape might have contributed to the difference in the effect of heavy rains,” said Mr. Goaynon.

Tribal chief Datu Sumangka, 76 years old, said that the place used to be abundant with trees, although the trees were not as big as those in primary forest areas. He remembers that in the 1960s, a logging company cut trees in Baungon, Bukidnon.

That logging operation, said 55-year-old Isabelo Cabeles, extended to Libona where he lives.

In a document of United Nations Development Programme titled “Green Commodities Facility -- Pineapple Scoping Paper,” pineapple plantations contribute to soil erosion for the lack of cover crops in a vast stretch of land. Tillage practices in preparing the beds for pineapples also add to the land’s susceptibility to soil erosion.

Bukidnon Vice-Governor Jose R. Zubiri, Jr., however, said in the same forum that people should stop blaming his province for the tragedy.

“People are saying that it’s because of mining and logging that we condone in our province,” said Mr. Zubiri.

“But in truth, there is only one logging company operating in Bukidnon -- the BFI [Bukidnon Forests, Inc.],” he added, noting that the mining company is co-owned by the Philippine and New Zealand governments and operates in the town of Libona.

He further argued that blaming the plantations -- a main source of employment in Bukidnon -- is faulty reasoning.

“Even if we plant trees on these fields, water seeks its own level. It would still go down and reach (Cagayan River),” said Mr. Zubiri.

Bukidnon hosts huge pineapple plantations operating under the multinational brand Del Monte.

Based on data from the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics in 2009, Northern Mindanao corners over 40% of the country’s pineapple production at 400,000 metric tons.

At least 90% of this volume comes from Bukidnon, which has roughly 19,000 hectares of the country’s 50,000 hectares of pineapple plantations. -- Louise G. Dumas

BUSINESS WORLD

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Sending Back Sendong Children to School

1. Let Filipinos unite themselves and send back the Sendong's children to school.

2. Hope, Government, NGOs and other concern individual and stakeholders working together for the immediate respond to these school children.

3. Let the military divert their budget into school supplies, and let the rebel groups also spend their time for collecting any amount for these poor children.

CDO, Iligan need 3 to 5 years to fully recover from ‘Sendong’

IT will take three to five years before Cagayan de Oro and Iligan City can fully recover from physical devastation it suffered due to Typhoon Sendong.


This was the observation of Margareta Wahlstrom, United Nations Special Representative for the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, as she addressed reporters in a press conference on Disaster and Risk Reduction.


Wahlstrom said she had seen the magnitude of devastation in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan City and that rebuilding efforts have not really started after a month when tragedy struck.


She also expressed concern on the plight of affected schoolchildren and teachers whom she said should undergo debriefing to fight back depression and psychological trauma they suffered brought by the tragedy of Typhoon Sendong.


Earlier, the DepEd said the debriefing and psycho-social therapy both on students and teachers and non-teaching personnel of the department who were affected by deadly Sendong will continue to help bring back normalcy in their lives.


“We have to respond to the immediate needs of both teachers and students and for now, it isimportant that we introduce activities that will bring back normalcy in their lives,” Education Secretary Bro. Armin Luistro said.


Luistro also said that the opening of classes in storm-ravaged areas on January 3, amid a strong criticism that schools were not ready to take in students, also helped a lot since it serves for students to reconnect with their classmates and teachers.


“I felt that students will need to see their friends, gather, pray, grieve together, otherwise I think that trauma would linger on and on,” Luistro said stressing that despite the tragedy life must go on.    Jeffrey C. Tiangco

Journal Online

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Iligan: from Danger to Danger

1. From tiger's mouth to lion's mouth.

Flood survivors in Mindanao rebuild in danger zones

Agence France-Presse

ILIGAN — Less than six weeks after killer floods swept away their slum homes along a Philippine river, Lydia Abulanda and her neighbours are rebuilding despite warnings disaster could strike again.

In a poverty-driven tale repeated with depressing frequency across the storm-plagued Southeast Asian nation, Abulanda said they had no other option but to take their chances again in the danger zone.

“We have nowhere else to go,” the 41-year-old housewife said as she stood amid the shantytown ruins of Ilagan city, where tropical storm Washi swept away entire communities in mid-December.

The government said at least 1,268 people were killed in the storm, but the total number of fatalities may never be known as entire families were washed away, leaving no survivors in unofficial slum areas to report the deaths.

Government officials said many of the victims were slum dwellers who had flocked to dangerous riverbanks because they could not afford to buy land or build homes in safer areas.

Slums hugging riverbanks, exposed coasts and other areas vulnerable to extreme weather are seen across the Philippines, where roughly a quarter of the country’s 100 million people live on a dollar a day or less.

An average of 20 tropical storms or typhoons hit the Philippines each year, many of them deadly, and the floods and winds typically punish the poorest members of society the most.

In Ilagan and other parts of the southern Philippines hit by Washi, the government and aid groups are trying to find safe new homes for thousands of survivors, but many will inevitably end up living back in dangerous areas.

As she visited the flood-hit city last week, the United Nations’ top disaster official said she was troubled by the way people seemingly refused to learn from the disaster.

“Yes, it bothers me that people forget so quickly,” Margareta Wahlstrom, the UN special representative for disaster risk reduction, told Agence France-Presse as she inspected the affected areas.

On both sides of a shattered bridge near Iligan, Wahlstrom saw residents using plywood and tarpaulin to erect shanties on the riverbank where homes had been swept to sea 40 days earlier.

The mayor of Iligan, Lawrence Cruz, told Wahlstrom in a meeting witnessed by AFP that the city government did not have the P300 million ($7 million) needed to buy land for the relocation of survivors.

The government initially sheltered thousands of displaced people in schools and gymnasiums but, with classes resuming in the new year, has been trying to move them out to temporary shelters.

Mother of three Maria Teresa Tampang, 37, said conditions were hard in the makeshift centre where she and about 180 families were living in tents donated by a South Korean aid organization.

“It is really hard in this evacuation area. There are a lot of people getting sick, with recurring coughs,” Tampang said, holding her baby in her arms.

“The tents are hot, even at night. But our bed is the hard ground and that is cold.”

Wahlstrom said she noted overcrowding at evacuation centres and said there was a need to lift spirits.

“It’s critical that people [in the shelters] stop being unhappy,” she said.

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Sendong Ironic: Muslim Communities Received Nothing from Muslim Countries

1. Qatar Red Crescent distributed good and hygiene kit for Sendong victims through  Philippine Red Cross. However, according to Muslim victims their community was not receive anything from the said relief which they are expected Halal goods will reach them.

Qatar Red Crescent joins Philippine Red Cross in relief operations

MANILA, Jan. 15 (PIA) -- The Qatar Red Crescent has joined hands with the Philippine Red Cross in a relief operation to typhoon-stricken families in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan.

Red Crescent and Red Cross personnel distributed food, non-food items and hygiene kits to hundreds of families last Friday, Jan. 13.

According to PRC, the Qatar Red Crescent donated $60,000 or around P2.6 million to provide assistance to at least 1,000 families in CDO and Iligan.

PRC chairman Richard J. Gordon thanked the Qatar Red Crescent and other organizations for continuously supporting the Philippine Red Cross.

Meanwhile, Dr. Amer Melhem, chief of the Disaster Management headed the Red Crescent team along with Projects and Events Coordinator Ms. Jassie Gumabon and Head of Mission to the Philippines Mr. Rashed Al-Muhanadi.

Each family beneficiary received basic non-food items such as mosquito nets, blankets, plastic mats and a water container.

Hygiene kits to include toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, bath soap, towel and other toiletries were also distributed.

In addition, the families also received food ration consisting of five kilos of rice, four pieces canned goods and four packs of noodles. (PRC/RJB/JEG-PIA-NCR)

source PIA.GOV.PH

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NDRRMC: 205 families in Mindanao evacuated due to flood

1. Sendong part 2?
2. Huge supports from foreign countries for Sendong victims..
3. Some Government agencies and NGOs loaded of heavy pocket money from Sendong. Hope no Sendong anymore.

More than 200 families in parts of Mindanao were evacuated from their homes due to heavy rain brought by the tail-end of a cold front, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said Saturday.

In its 8 a.m. update, the NDRRMC said the evacuations were conducted in Surigao del Sur in Caraga, and Compostela Valley in Region 11.

The NDRRMC said 80 families were evacuated from Cumawan village in Bislig City in Surigao del Sur due to flooding.

Floods in Bislig City were knee-deep due to continuous rain since Friday, the NDRRMC said.

But the 80 families were allowed to return to their homes as of 7 p.m. Friday after the floodwater subsided, it added.

In Compostela Valley, 125 families in Poblacion and Ngan villages in Compostela town were evacuated due to flooding.

These included 106 families or 292 people from Poblacion village who were evacuated to the Compostela Central Elementary School and Macapagal High School; and 19 families or 45 people from Ngan who were brought to the local village hall.

According to the NDRRMC, floodwaters in the two villages had subsided but the families remained in evacuation centers.

Meanwhile, Bislig City officials ordered "immediate measures for risk reduction" in landslide and erosion-prone areas in Cumawa, Mangagoy, Tabon, Labisma, Pamaypayan, San Jose, San Antonio and San Isidro villages.

City officials also established warning signs in the villages and advised residents to evacuate to safer areas. — LBG, GMA News

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PAGASA: Flash floods, landslides still threaten parts of Visayas, Mindanao

Flash floods and landslides remain a threat to parts of Visayas and Mindanao due to the tail-end of a cold front, state weather forecasters said Friday.

Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) forecaster Manny Mendoza also said rain from the northeast monsoon looms over Luzon.

"Possible flash floods and landslides in Eastern Visayas and Northeastern Mindanao may be caused by rain due to the diffused tail-end of a cold front," Mendoza said in an interview on dzBB radio.

Also he said there is no cyclone or weather disturbance near the Philippine area of responsibility at this time.

PAGASA's 5 a.m. bulletin said the diffused tail-end of a cold front is affecting Visayas while the northeast monsoon is affecting Luzon.

"Eastern Visayas and Northeastern Mindanao will have cloudy skies with scattered to widespread rain showers and thunderstorms which may trigger flash floods and landslides," it said.

It said the rest of the Visayas will experience mostly cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and isolated thunderstorms.

The coastal waters throughout the archipelago will be moderate to rough, it added. — LBG, GMA News

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