THERE IS A TRUE EXPLANATION
to why the recent typhoons wrecked
such havoc on the Philippines. And
there is a humane way to undertake
relief and reconstruction efforts.

This is different from the
prevailing line propagated by
government: The irresponsible squatters
and their bad habits. Their illegal
structures and irresponsiblewaste
disposal, they say, blocked the natural
waterways and aggravates flooding.
Thus, it is necessary to forcibly relocate
hundreds of thousands of urban poor
families from so-called danger zones.

This is one of the most prevalent
anti-poor rationalizations for the natural
disaster. It strengthen the argument that
it is the poor themselves who are to
blame for their suffering.

But there’s a real explanation to this
phenomenon. Since time immemorial,
man has faced both the gifts and curse
of nature. This relationship is symbiotic
and eternal. Man cannot prevent the
natural movement of nature. But man
can ensure his safety from nature’s
wrath.

Therefore man learned to build
houses as shelter from heat and rain,
to make clothes and blankets against
the cold, and discover medicines to cure
sickness. Without these interventions,
man would have long ago succumbed
to the forces of nature. In those times
when nature inflicts its ruin on society,
it is because man was unprepared or
natural forces were too powerful. But
oftentimes it is man that dominates
nature and is able to utilize the blessings
of the world for his benefit.

It is thus very convenient to blame
the poor who chose to live on the edges
of rivers and lakes, knowing
beforehand that their shanties stand no
chance against floods. They probably
were unaware of the actual danger
posed by Typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng
(international names Katsuna and
Parma). Whether rich or poor,
everbody lives in a degree of
uncertainty, though those without
options extremely so.

The poor are forced to live even
in dangerous areas so they may at least
have something to shield them from the
sun and the rain, the heat and cold—
no matter how miserable life in those
places is. It would be truly comforting
for the poor of Marikina if instead of
low-lying areas such as Tumana, they
would be relocated to the safe elite
villages like La Vista or Ayala Heights.
Or those living beside the river in Pasig
and Cainta towns were to be transferred
to Valle Verde or Corinthians Garden.
And those squatting on the shores of
Laguna Lake were to be brought to the
classy subdivisions of Calabarzon. Who
would refuse if the poor had such
options?

Truly many of the poor live, or
suffer, in declared danger zones. But
such areas only become dangerous to
the poor because they lack the capacity
to ensure their safety in such areas.
While in many countries, riversides and
lakeshores are not necessarily
dangerous since they have been able to
build strong structures for housing and
other uses.

Even the Malacañang Palace, the
seat of government, is not considered a
danger zone even though it sits right
besides the flowing waters of the mighty
Pasig River. This is because the swollen
waters of rivers and lakes are only able
to wash out the rickety shanties not the
palaces, mansions and buildings of the
rich.

Moreover, it is not the poor who
destroy nature. The poor instead are
its victims.

First of all, scientists say that the
biggest contributors to climate change
are the capitalists—the owners of the
industries which massively pollute the
atmosphere with carbon emissions that
cause global warming. Global warming
is undeniably the cause of the erratic
patterns of typhoons, flooding and
drought that the world is experiencing
now.

Next is the great destructions done
to nature by mining companies and land
developers. The wanton quarrying and
mining operations in Rizal and Benguet
provinces, for instance, are the real
causes of periodic landslides there.
Mountains are flattened, bulldozed and
fenced off by developers to make way
for real estate projects or golf courses.

All of these happen with
government hardly exercising any
oversight since deregulation and
privatization are its mantra. Unfettered
capitalism rules with the anarchy of
individual planning.

Capitalists go their own merry way
to exploit man and nature for profit.
They do not care if their operations
trigger mudslides or their pollution
produces acid rains. Do not mind
destroying mountains just to acquire the
minerals and ores. They disregard the
risks of giant dams for what is important
is to generate electricity for sale to the
market and paid irrigation waters for
farmers. What is paramount is profit.

Who is to blame then? Why the
poor when they are not the owners of
factories, plants, mines, and real
estate companies? Why the poor when
they have neither voice nor part in any
planning for the use or abuse of nature?
Why not identify the real culprits and
before them show our indignation at
their rotten system?

We hold the capitalists responsible
for the destruction of nature! We hold
the government accountable for
its negligence and lack of
foresight!

Due to the extent of the
damage wrought by the natural
disasters, the relief efforts by
public agencies and private institutions
will not be sufficient. It is good enough
only to tide the affected poor for awhile
and not all of them in fact. It will hardly
change their current predicament. In
the coming days, the masses further
face extreme difficulties due to the
damage done by the typhoons on
agriculture and the lack of government
funds for such a contingency.
But the people cannot simply wait.

If the masses do not stand up and let
their voice be heard, the capitalists and
the government will once more plan
behind our backs without hearing the
demands of the poor and leaving the
people to survive by their own means.
We need to act. We need to fight.

First, discard the policies of
deregulation and privatization that serve
as convenient excuses for governments
to betray its responsibility to protect the
interests of the citizens.

Second, implement a central and
coordinated land use plan and institute
a new housing program that will address
the lack of decent shelter for millions
of Filipino families.

Third, stop the forcible relocation
of the poor from the danger zones into
death zones where there are no
livelihood opportunities and social
services.

The poor who were sent to
Bulacan, left to fend for themselves and
forced to build shanties in relocation
areas that were likewise destroyed by
the recent typhoons should serve a
lesson and a tragedy that must not
happen again.

If the poor must be relocated, it
should be to decent communities in safe
areas, with durable housing and
opportunities for livelihood.
This means appropriate planning at
all levels of government and the
allocation of sufficient funds for the new
housing program. This planning must
involve and engage experts and the
communities including their
organizations.

It is for these reasons that the labor
party, the Partido ng Manggagawa
(PM) and the Alyansa ng Maralitang
Pilipino (AMP) or Alliance of Poor
Filipinos press for the following
demands:

1. Ensure that relief operations
continue as long as necessary and
its reaches all the disaster victims;

5. Stop debt payments.
Realign these funds for
rehabilitation and reconstruction
efforts, and a massive program for
decent housing and jobs that can
respond to the needs of the poor.

The Filipino people have the
capacity to arise from the devastation
of natural disasters. We have proven
this from past tragedies.

But it is far easier to recover if there
is good governance and concrete
programs not only for disaster response
but also against the more serious
problem of poverty. Absent real social
change, the people are in constant
danger before natural calamities and
exploitation by a capitalist system that
is at the root of environmental
destruction and human poverty.

But a solution exists and it is
founded upon the people’s unity
in struggling for immediate
demands and the strategic vision
of social change.