A resurgence of hope

Karla Tumulak, a student leader and first year student at the University of Cebu College of Law, was a guest last Saturday at our dyRC Program, Hagit sa Kinaiyahan. She happily commented on the resurgence of the bayanihan spirit among citizens and foreigners alike which indeed is most palpably felt nowadays. A heart-warming poster about this in Facebook never fails to lighten weary hearts. It says “Bayanihan is now in the Philippine Area of Responsibility,” a line common when the nth typhoon enters the country. Needless to say, it merited so many likes and shares by netizens. Bayanihan is indeed making a comeback.

Tumulak hopes, and I know this is supported by many, that this spirit of unity and partnership continues and persists, especially in participating in governance. Among the reasons why patronage politics, corruption and abuse of public office prevail is people’s failure to speak up and be part of the policy-making process. Not many are perhaps aware that each of us is guaranteed by the State the right to participate at all levels of decision-making, whether political, social and economic.

The past week had been a long, depressing one of seeing, commiserating with and crying about the miserable plight of the victims of the ferocious Yolanda and the tremendous devastation it inflicted in its path. In a meeting among concerned citizens yesterday, we had a chance to talk first-hand with Billy Abueme, one of the hundreds of thousands of internally displaced person (IDP) from Guiuan, Samar. The area was where Yolanda made its first landfall. He says that the sound of the wind was loud and deafening. Everything was a mess. Guiuan is a fishing village and all the pump boats were destroyed. For him, the most devastating impact was the psychological trauma inflicted on the people. He shared the view that there was a very slow response from the government.

Responding to this latest tragedy, citizen-led initiatives whether in the form of healthy debates in the net, relief work and coordination, and donations, among others, are visible.

Social network sites are in overdrive with citizens exchanging views on the national government’s response to the massive needs of the survivors still unanswered, the looting, the unexpected fracas between Anderson Cooper of CNN and Korina Sanchez of ABS-CBN and the countless stories of hope, patience and determination of the growing number of IDPs.

We, privileged to be spared from the impact of Yolanda, acknowledge the tremendous responsibility to help and reach out to our affected compatriots. Cebu City and Lapu-Lapu City are hosting many refugee centers. We hope more highly-urbanized cities will follow suit. The work of rebuilding lives is for the long-term. We cannot disappoint them.

While the focus is understandably on the relief work in hard-hit communities and in the centers where the IDPs are housed, people should not lose sight of the fact that climate change is happening. We should do our share in changing our fossil-fuel dependent lifestyle and in pressuring governments to act swiftly to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

What else can be done?

Mainstreaming disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) as a way of life is long overdue as an adaptation strategy. We do not have to look far as our neighbor, the municipality of San Francisco, Cebu, is proving to all that its unique purok system of participatory governance is key to empowerment, enforcement of environmental laws and saving of precious lives.

With DRRM and climate champions such as former San Francisco Mayor Al Arquillano and Gov. Joey Salceda in our midst, it is mind-boggling why their services are not actively tapped by national government and local government units.

Having seen the magnitude of the destruction, will Yolanda make a difference now? We certainly hope so.

Citizens should pressure governments – at the local, national and international levels – to exhibit the much-needed political will to reduce greenhouse gases and build our people’s resiliency as climate change is here to stay. As scientists all over the world have long warned governments, things will get worse before they get better. That may perhaps be achieved only if we bring down the carbon concentration to 350 parts per million.

The on-going 19th Conference of Parties (COP) Climate Summit at Warsaw is a test whether the suffering of the millions of displaced peoples and the preventable deaths of thousands from Yolanda, Katrina, Sandy to mention a few, have created a dent in the minds of policymakers in the developed countries. If we are to respond to the devastating effects of climate change and leave a livable future for our children, they should heed the growing global demand for action – reduce carbon emission and compensate the impacted communities.

To honor our compatriots who are undoubtedly climate change victims, and in solidarity with Climate Change Commissioner Naredev “Yeb” Sano, who is on hunger strike, for the duration of the Warsaw COP, a group of like-minded citizens in Cebu committed to fast. By so doing, the plight of climate victims is hopefully highlighted as well as the fight against perilous climate change. It is symbolic of the capacity of each individual and community to craft climate solutions.

Today, the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice will have a nationwide activity to spur actions in our communities. We are all victims.

Deep emission cuts and compensation for loss and damages are essential and we hope that this time, the developed countries, listen and act.