NEWS: Filipino-Canadians condemn Philippine official blaming people for Leyte disaster
National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada
SIKLAB - Canada
Press Release
February 21, 2006
A network of progressive Filipino-Canadian organizations condemned the statements of Malyn Tumonong, a Senior Science Research Specialist with Department of Environment & Natural Resources in the Philippines, which virtually blamed the people of the village of Ginsaugon, Southern Leyte for their own deaths.
In a stunning admission during a nationally-broadcast interview by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) yesterday, the official said the people of the Southern Leyte village should have known there was an impending disaster and should have taken their “own initiatives to evacuate the area.”
“We expect people to be more vigilant,” said Tumunong. She said that because it had been raining in the area for two weeks beforehand, the people should have been, “more aware of [their] surroundings,” and that “there were signs” the mudslide would happen.
When probed by the reporter, Tumunong denied any government responsibility for the tragedy saying, “our agency is not a warning agency” and that they “cannot do it at a very local level… [since] people are living quite far apart.”
“As Filipinos in Canada, we are appalled at this statement in the face of this tragedy,” said Cecilia Diocson, Executive Director of the National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada (NAPWC). “This statement clearly illustrates the Philippine government’s total neglect for the welfare of its own people,” she added.
“President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo did not take any measures to prevent this tragedy or to evacuate the area despite the DENR’s own admission that the disaster was waiting to happen,” said Rodderick Carreon, Chairperson of SIKLAB-Canada, a national formation of Filipino migrant workers. “The country is not prepared to deal with natural calamities like this one since most of the government budget goes towards servicing the foreign debt and not towards badly-needed social services,” he added.
According to reports only 0.1 percent of national budget is allotted to calamity funds.
The area was listed as a geo-hazard and a previous landslide resulted in 20 deaths occurred in the same area a week before. In 1991, the same province was the site of massive landslides and flooding which resulted in the deaths of more than 6,000 people.
According to the groups, decades of large-scale logging have caused widespread deforestation all over the Philippines, resulting in flooding and landslides like the one in Leyte. Besides the government’s granting of permits to large-scale logging companies, the group also criticized the Philippine government’s non-sustainable agricultural policies which promote the cultivation of non-traditional cash crop agricultural products for export. Because of land conversion and land-grabbing, poor farmers are often driven upland to find a means of livelihood and engage in the ‘slash and burn’ method of upland farming.
“In her feverish bid to increase government revenues, President Arroyo has aggressively pushed for the opening of the country to logging and mining which has been responsible for the devastation and degradation of the Philippine landscape,” said Joy Sioson of the Philippine Women Centre of Ontario in another CBC interview.
Just a month ago, the government granted a logging permit to Senator Juan Ponce Enrile for several thousand hectares in the province of Samar, a neighboring island of Leyte.
Philippine forests currently cover less than three percent of the total land area.
The groups are calling for donations to be coursed to the area. In Vancouver, donations can be made at any Vancouver City Savings Credit Union branch to the account: “Leyte Disaster Relief Fund,” Account Number: 63487, Branch 28 or across Canada cheques can be made to: “Philippine Women Centre of BC” re: “Leyte Disaster Relief Fund,” and mailed to: 451 Powell Street, Vancouver, BC, V6A 1G7.
The groups also thanked the Canadian federal government and Manitoban provincial government who announced $300,000 and $100,000 in assistance to support recovery and rehabilitation in the Leyte disaster area.
- 30 -
For more information, please contact:
• VANCOUVER: Cecilia Diocson (NAPWC) or Ted Alcuitas (BC Commitee for Human Rights in the Philippines) at: 604-215-1103 or e-mail: pwc@kalayaancentre.net
• MONTREAL: Roderick Carreon (SIKLAB - Quebec) at: 514-344-2709 or Joanne Vasquez (Philippine Women Centre of Quebec) at: 514-659-4300
• TORONTO: Joy Sioson, Philippine Women Centre of Ontario or Yolyn Valenzuela (SIKLAB - Ontario) at: 416-878-8772 or e-mail: siklab_ontario@yahoo.ca
SIKLAB - Canada
Press Release
February 21, 2006
A network of progressive Filipino-Canadian organizations condemned the statements of Malyn Tumonong, a Senior Science Research Specialist with Department of Environment & Natural Resources in the Philippines, which virtually blamed the people of the village of Ginsaugon, Southern Leyte for their own deaths.
In a stunning admission during a nationally-broadcast interview by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) yesterday, the official said the people of the Southern Leyte village should have known there was an impending disaster and should have taken their “own initiatives to evacuate the area.”
“We expect people to be more vigilant,” said Tumunong. She said that because it had been raining in the area for two weeks beforehand, the people should have been, “more aware of [their] surroundings,” and that “there were signs” the mudslide would happen.
When probed by the reporter, Tumunong denied any government responsibility for the tragedy saying, “our agency is not a warning agency” and that they “cannot do it at a very local level… [since] people are living quite far apart.”
“As Filipinos in Canada, we are appalled at this statement in the face of this tragedy,” said Cecilia Diocson, Executive Director of the National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada (NAPWC). “This statement clearly illustrates the Philippine government’s total neglect for the welfare of its own people,” she added.
“President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo did not take any measures to prevent this tragedy or to evacuate the area despite the DENR’s own admission that the disaster was waiting to happen,” said Rodderick Carreon, Chairperson of SIKLAB-Canada, a national formation of Filipino migrant workers. “The country is not prepared to deal with natural calamities like this one since most of the government budget goes towards servicing the foreign debt and not towards badly-needed social services,” he added.
According to reports only 0.1 percent of national budget is allotted to calamity funds.
The area was listed as a geo-hazard and a previous landslide resulted in 20 deaths occurred in the same area a week before. In 1991, the same province was the site of massive landslides and flooding which resulted in the deaths of more than 6,000 people.
According to the groups, decades of large-scale logging have caused widespread deforestation all over the Philippines, resulting in flooding and landslides like the one in Leyte. Besides the government’s granting of permits to large-scale logging companies, the group also criticized the Philippine government’s non-sustainable agricultural policies which promote the cultivation of non-traditional cash crop agricultural products for export. Because of land conversion and land-grabbing, poor farmers are often driven upland to find a means of livelihood and engage in the ‘slash and burn’ method of upland farming.
“In her feverish bid to increase government revenues, President Arroyo has aggressively pushed for the opening of the country to logging and mining which has been responsible for the devastation and degradation of the Philippine landscape,” said Joy Sioson of the Philippine Women Centre of Ontario in another CBC interview.
Just a month ago, the government granted a logging permit to Senator Juan Ponce Enrile for several thousand hectares in the province of Samar, a neighboring island of Leyte.
Philippine forests currently cover less than three percent of the total land area.
The groups are calling for donations to be coursed to the area. In Vancouver, donations can be made at any Vancouver City Savings Credit Union branch to the account: “Leyte Disaster Relief Fund,” Account Number: 63487, Branch 28 or across Canada cheques can be made to: “Philippine Women Centre of BC” re: “Leyte Disaster Relief Fund,” and mailed to: 451 Powell Street, Vancouver, BC, V6A 1G7.
The groups also thanked the Canadian federal government and Manitoban provincial government who announced $300,000 and $100,000 in assistance to support recovery and rehabilitation in the Leyte disaster area.
- 30 -
For more information, please contact:
• VANCOUVER: Cecilia Diocson (NAPWC) or Ted Alcuitas (BC Commitee for Human Rights in the Philippines) at: 604-215-1103 or e-mail: pwc@kalayaancentre.net
• MONTREAL: Roderick Carreon (SIKLAB - Quebec) at: 514-344-2709 or Joanne Vasquez (Philippine Women Centre of Quebec) at: 514-659-4300
• TORONTO: Joy Sioson, Philippine Women Centre of Ontario or Yolyn Valenzuela (SIKLAB - Ontario) at: 416-878-8772 or e-mail: siklab_ontario@yahoo.ca
posted by ukpc-toronto @ 10:48 p.m.
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