Baguio school kids take climate strike to City Hall

Baguio school children march from Burnham Park to the Baguio City Hall on Friday (Sept. 27) to take their climate strike and their demands for solutions to the climate crisis. INQUIRER PHOTOS/ Vincent Cabreza

BAGUIO CITY — Baguio school children on Friday (Sept. 27) took their “climate strike” to City Hall, to demand for solutions to a climate crisis that has imperiled their generation.

About a hundred pupils, many from the Phases Learning Center, chanted, “People united will never be defeated… We are unstoppable a better world is possible.”

They carried placards read “Nagbabago na ang panahon! Panahon na para magbago! (Climate is changing! It’s time we changed too)” and scorned climate deniers with messages like “Denial is not a policy.”

Some of the placards remind people about the impact of extreme weather on wildlife and even activism, stating that the top endangered species because of climate change are the tamaraws, the Philippine eagle and environment defenders.

The children are part of the movement “Baguio Rising for Climate Action” that was spearheaded by Baguio environmentalists Victoria Bautista and Cyrene Reyes, who launched their first Baguio climate strike on Sept. 20.

“We are here to remind the government that the Philippines is one of the five nations most vulnerable to climate change,” Reyes said.

The students joined the series of climate actions after the Department of Education gave schools their blessings “provided parents consent,” she said./lzb