'We're just counting bodies': Groups link corruption to recent typhoon deaths
MANILA, Philippines — Filipinos are constantly "counting bodies" from calamities that are caused by corruption, church and environmental groups said Wednesday, November 19, as they urged accountability after typhoons Tino and Uwan devastated Luzon and Visayas.
Beyond the flood control anomalies that have prompted nationwide protests, the groups also accused the government of "climate betrayal" by loosening the conditions for exemptions of coal-fired power plant projects despite the impact of repeated disasters.
"We're just counting bodies. This has been our story for the past decade, with our communities still recovering years later from the bitter experiences of Ondoy, Yolanda, and Odette," said Gerry Arances, convenor of Power for People Coalition, in a statement.
Arances also criticized the government for pursuing coal projects while participating in international climate talks.
"Today, the Philippine government is in Brazil for the UN Climate Conference, spending millions of our taxes to engage in climate talks after effectively turning its back on the coal moratorium just last month. There is no greater climate betrayal to a country than our government bringing climate-polluting coal back to life when we are already drowning from the storms," he said.
At a press briefing on Wednesday, groups including Laudato Si’ Convergence, Greenpeace Philippines, Quezon for Environment, Progresong Walang Naiiwan - Bulacan, and Freedom from Debt Coalition - Eastern Visayas called for a halt to fossil fuel expansion and systemic action against corruption.
Corruption beyond flood control
The groups pointed to corruption extending beyond flood control projects into the power sector, singling out Department of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Raphael Lotilla for having an active Ombudsman case against him for graft and corruption during his time as energy secretary.
Under Lotilla's leadership at the Department of Energy, the agency approved a 150-megawatt coal expansion in Toledo City, Cebu despite the coal moratorium. The project is under a subsidiary of Aboitiz Power, where Lotilla previously served as Independent Director.
"It is clear whose interests Lotilla is pushing for, and it is not the interests of the Filipino people. This institutional corruption is beyond flood control, and we should start looking at all the anomalies, starting with the power sector," Arances said.
Virgie Benosa-Llorin of Greenpeace said the energy industry and government's greed for fossil fuels drives the climate crisis, pushing Filipinos toward preventable debt, poverty, loss of livelihoods and death.
"Environmental destruction, greed, collusion, and corruption are not separate problems. These are connected injustices that exacerbate the suffering of ordinary Filipinos. We must therefore demand an end to corruption, which includes climate accountability from our government," Benosa-Llorin said.
'The fight continues'
Father Warren Puno of Quezon for Environment joined the briefing during their Lakad-Panaghoy Para sa Kalikasan, a three-day protest walk against the 1,200-megawatt Atimonan One Energy coal plant, the 247-megawatt Banahaw Wind Power Project, and other destructive developments in Quezon Province.
"Our protest walk may end tomorrow but the fight continues, just as we have been fighting for the past 10 years against the A1E coal project. The calamities are only making it clearer that our environment is non-negotiable, and our government should be protecting nature, not destroying it by approving these destructive industries," Puno said.
Community leaders from areas hit by typhoons Tino and Uwan described climate and ecological injustices their communities face, calling these symptoms of government corruption through fossil fuels and harmful industries.
Farah Gamalo of Freedom from Debt Coalition - Eastern Visayas said communities have not recovered emotionally or financially from the 2006 Southern Leyte mudslide and Supertyphoon Yolanda.
"We don't see much effort from the government, except for their recent approval of coal-fired power plants and gutting of the coal moratorium, despite the impacts of climate disasters we are already facing," Gamalo said.
Val Vibal of Progresong Walang Naiiwan and People's Action Network said flooding in Bulacan stems not just from flood control anomalies but from poorly studied projects like the Bulacan International Airport, which is being built on thousands of hectares of protected mangrove area and is blamed for delayed floodwater drainage.
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