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Chricelyn Empong, ang Lumad na Greta Thunberg

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Tampok ngayon ang isang 16 taong gulang na climate activist na si Greta Thunberg mula sa Sweden. Ito ay dahil sa kanyang matatapang na mga pahayag hinggil sa lumalalang problema dulot ng pagbabago ng klima o climate change. Giit ng dalaga na dapat ay agarang kumilos ang iba’t ibang lider sa buong mundo upang solusyunan ang nagbabadyang tuluyang pagkasira ng ating kalikasan.

Dito sa Pilipinas, nananawagan din ang mga kabataang Lumad na protektahan ang lupang ninuno at ang kalikasan.

Isa si Chricelyn Empong sa marami pang estudyanteng lumad na napilitang mag-bakwit dito sa Maynila dahil pagpapasara ng gobyerno sa kanilang mga paaralan. Tulad ni Greta, naninindigan din si Chricelyn na dapat lamang na kumilos at lumaban hinggil sa pangangalaga sa ating kalikasan.

“Buhay ng buong mundo ang nakasalalay sa aming pagkilos ngayon. Hindi namin kailanman tatalikuran ang susunod na henerasyon gaya ng pagtalikod ng gobyernong Duterte,” pahayag ni Chricelyn.

Sa ngayon, nagaganap ang isang Global Climate Strike kung saan kabilang si Greta at ang mga kabataan lumad. Nagsimula ito noong Setyembre 20 at magpapatuloy hanggang Setyembre 27. Hinihikayat nito ang lahat na sumama sa mga kilos protesta upang igiit ang hustisya para sa ating kalikasan. Ito rin ay para itulak ang iba’t ibang pulitiko na magsagawa ng mga solusyon upang mapangalagaan ang kalikasan. (Video ni Jo Maline Mamangun/Kodao)

A snapshot of climate strikes across Southeast Asia

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‘THERE IS NO PLANET B”

By Mong Palatino

Filipino protesters in a human-Earth formation. Source: Facebook page of Scientia

Several actions were organized across Southeast Asia from 20 to 22 September 2019 in support of the Global Climate Strike. One of the aims of the global strike was to mobilize young people and put pressure on world leaders who were scheduled to meet at the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York.

The protest actions in Southeast Asia highlighted various issues such as the impact of large-scale mining, haze pollution, and continuing dependence on fossil fuels. Like in other parts of the world, the climate strikes in Southeast Asia featured the active participation and leadership of young people.

Below is an overview of protest activities across Southeast Asia:

Myanmar protesters demand the declaration of a climate emergency

More than 200 people marched from the new Bogyoke Market to Sule Pagoda, and then gathered outside Mahabandoola Park in Yangon on 21 September. They urged the Myanmar government to declare a climate emergency, impose a moratorium on projects that harm the environment, and promote environmental justice.

Young environmentalists joined the protest in Yangon. Source: Facebook page of Climate Strike Myanmar

Filipino activists call for climate justice

More than 600 young environmentalists in Manila participated in a human-Earth formation while carrying placards that call for climate justice on 20 September. They denounced the rising number of extrajudicial killings targeting environmental defenders and land rights activists under the government of President Rodrigo Duterte who came to power in 2016.

Thailand asked to stop building coal plants

More than 150 young environmentalists held a die-in protest in front of Thailand’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment on 20 September. They submitted a petition asking the government to phase out coal and transition to renewable energy. A government official received the letter and lauded the concern of young people for the environment.

Young environmentalists rally in front of Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. Source: Facebook page of Climate Strike Thailand

Malaysia pressed to act against haze pollution

More than 300 people joined the protest organized by Klima Action Malaysia on 21 September. They linked the worsening haze pollution to the climate crisis and asked the government to probe companies responsible for financing the deforestation of lands in Malaysia and Indonesia.

Stop forest fires in Indonesia

Reports indicated that more than a thousand young people marched in Jakarta on 20 September. They criticized the failure of the government to stop the forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan which caused massive haze pollution not just in Indonesia but also in Malaysia and Singapore. The expansion of plantations and illegal land conversions are blamed for the raging forest fires in the country.

Singapore told to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

Singapore had a large turnout during its climate strike on 21 September at Hong Lim Park. An estimated two thousand people joined the action calling the government to decarbonize the economy and reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. Participants wore red to symbolize the climate emergency we are facing today.

Vietnamese activists defy risks and hold protest in Ho Chi Minh City

And finally, in Vietnam, environmental activists organized a climate protest in Ho Chi Minh City despite the political risk of such an action.

(This article was first published by Global Voices, an international and multilingual community of bloggers, journalists, translators, academics, and human rights activists. It is republished by Kodao as part of a content sharing agreement.)

Veteran disaster responder Carlos Padolina dies in road accident

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Department of Social Work and Development (DSWD) official and veteran disaster responder Carlos Padolina died in a road accident Friday night in Balingasag, Misamis Oriental.

Padolina, DSWD Climate Adaptation and Mitigation deputy program director, died after a motorcycle hit the tricycle he was riding at about midnight, a colleague told Kodao.

In a Facebook post, Padolina’s colleague Caroline Quevedo Catalan said it was a “sudden death.”

“After our orientation, he requested that we bring him to the bus terminal (bound) for Cagayan de Oro…By 11 pm, he took the tricycle from Balingasag area to (the) terminal and then they were hit by a drag-racing motorcycle that was without a headlight,” Catalan wrote.

Padolina was reportedly thrown off the sidecar and suffered massive internal haemorrhage that led to his death.

Padolina was in Mindanao to hold a program orientation with Caraga local government units and people’s organizations in Butuan City.

From Butuan, Padolina dropped by Balingasag to meet with other disaster response colleagues.

Padolina joined the DSWD in September 2016 after decades of disaster preparedness and response work with the Citizens’ Disaster Response Center and children’s rights advocacy with the Children’s Rehabilitation Center and Salinlahi.

(Photo from Padolina’s FB page)

The first major disaster response he participated with DSWD was supertyphoon Lawin that hit Northern Luzon in 2016 while among his last was Mount Mayon’s eruption earlier this year.

Before joining DSWD, Padolina spearheaded numerous relief and rehabilitation programs across the Philippines for nearly three decades.

He was reportedly planning to go back to CDRC after nearly two years with the DSWD.

The victim’s family has already been notified of his death, the source said.

The DSWD is planning to hold a tribute to Padolina during its flag-raising ceremony on Monday. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

UP professor reveals harassment of farmers in Kidapawan

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University of the Philippines Professor Gerardo Lanuza reveals in a press conference the continuing harassment victims of the April 1 Kidapawan shooting suffer.

Lanuza participated in a fact-finding mission to Kidapawan a few days after the incident. He was assigned to interview four injured farmers, but was prevented by the presence of four soldiers armed with assault rifles inside a local hospital.

In this video, Lanuza enumerates the various ways in which the police and the Philippine Army make injured farmer Christopher Lumandang suffer even further.

(Featured image of Christopher Lumandang by Kilab Multimedia)