Country Briefing Paper

(For the Ibon International Climate Justice 2020 project)

A. LEVEL OF PUBLIC AWARENESS OF CLIMATE CRISIS

Climatic change ( CC ) has wreaked havoc among vulnerable sectors, both in the

urban and rural communities. But chronic poverty and factors that contribute to the

worsening socioeconomic situation remain to be major issues while climate change

related disasters are considered natural occurrences that only aggravate existing

vulnerabilities. The issue about disasters is more of government neglect and its dismal

failure to institute preparedness, resiliency and rehabilitation .

In a backward, socioeconomically deprived and mainly agricultural countryside,

disasters have been part of peasant existence. Majority simply cope, hunger

pervasiveness is normal and considered a part of life among those who till . While about

majority of farmers have observed the drastic and perilous changes in climate patterns

that have gradually reduced incomes and food self sufficiency, they know not of the

climate change phenomenon , its insidious effects, implications on development and

the meaning of climate justice.

In CCNCI’s engagements with susbsistence peasants who till small tracts of land

or work for a day’s wage as farm labor , it came to realize that a semblance of “climate

change adaptation” is practiced as a way for survival. These coping mechanisms

however do not aim for genuine resilience or development but government labels such

as Filipino resiliency, downplaying its own complacency and indifference. This mentality

was horribly displayed by the chief executive during typhoon Haiyan ..”o buhay ka pa

naman di ba ? “ . In workshops, the people would say “We are used to it..sanay na”

and tell of stories on how they cry, try or die trying. Climate change, they felt it coming

( see effects cited below ) but knew not of its future consequences or understand its

root cause.

In organized communities who struggle for land and trade rights, reforms are

worked out through legal or revolutionary means– demand for higher wages, lower

interests for loans, higher shares of harvest and collective tilling on disputed land called

“bungkalan”. These communities also implement socio economic programs on health,

disaster response and livelihood initiatives. None of these however are conscious

struggles for climate change adaptation although vulnerabilities to climate change are

addressed to some extent. Nonetheless, these struggles empower people’s

organizations which is an important requisite to CC response. Organic and diversified

farming and sustainable agroecology systems are being applied mainly for environment

and health impacts rather than as CC adaptation. While these systems also espouse

food sovereignty as a proactive stand for food security and sustainability, climate

change as a basis for agroecology only came about just recently .Climate change

challenges agroecology in two ways : through false CC solutions like climate smart

agriculture that uses chemical inputs , monocropping and genetically modified seeds

and directly through devastating effects and impacts like drought, severe storms and

rising sea levels that allow inland entry of sea water and causes pestilence and

emerging crop diseases. Practitioners of agroecology are now beginning to consider CC

effects in their farms and conducting field studies for climate resilient crops.1

Organized peasant women members of AMIHAN, with the exception of national

leaders, have not even heard of climate change but are already grappling with severe

droughts never before experienced. This they responded to with mass actions to

demand government response through relief and subsidies for the afflicted farmers. CC

awareness could have led to more demands from government like climate and disaster

response funds for true resiliency or more support for science based CC adaptation

instead of reactive calamity response. After CC education, they are currently working on

the integration of CC into their calls and plans.2

Among fisherfolk, the case is almost the same with the farmers but climate

change effects are more dramatic and acute . In Bulacan for instance, the

disappearance of entire sitios were noted after one strong typhoon that has washed

out their wetlands except for a portion with mangroves. The rising sea levels have been

experienced since the year 2000 but CC awareness again has not reached this sector

and adaptation has just been a way of life-from building higher stilts for makeshift huts

to moving further inland. Now they stand to lose everything because of reclamation and

coastal development projects all of which can also aggravate CC effects.3

Among youth, specifically high school and college students , a higher awareness

of climate change was perceived because of social media exposure . Greta Thunberg, a

youth climate activist has been trending for the past few years and has made

participation to the Global Climate Strike an “in” thing among the youth. In CCNCI

immersions with this sector, it was observed that majority of them still believe that

lifestyle changes can solve CC and that each individual contributes to GHG’s when using

single use plastics, eating meat or using a car. Organized youth ( members of

Anakbayan and League of Filipino students) however espouse climate justice and

1 Proceedings, Climate Change Resiliency Conference, MASIPAG-Mindanao, October 7 2018

2 Proceedings ,Peasant Women for Climate Justice: Resist Plunder Now, AMIHAN national council meet, November

23,2019

3 Taliptip CC workshop and risk assessment report, CCNCI, Pacampara et al, September 2018

believe in ending capitalism and making industrialized countries pay for CC. In children’s

CC workshops, 4the participants are generally aware of environmental protection—

proper waste disposal, food conservation, healthful eating and preservation of wildlife.

But CC consciousness needs to be processed as well . In encounters with organized

children and youth ( Dumagat and Bakwit school children ) CC awareness also needs to

be stepped up to be able to provide additional basis for their calls like protection of their

ancestral domain from plunder and destruction, rejection of NCWSP and mining and

their fight for their right to education and development. 5

Workers are mostly unaware of CC, except for organized labor groups who

understand the economic and political causes of CC, the role of capitalists and

multinationals in global warming . Urban poor communities who bear the brunt of

disasters struggle more against poor governance, privatization of utilities and health

care, unemployment, transportation woes and rising prices of basic commodities.6 CC

awareness again is lacking or limited to association with plastic use, waste management

and the water shortage which they believe to be a natural phenomenon.7

B. IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE COUNTRy

Farmers

Climate change is most felt among peasants . Their narratives seemed

inconsistent with projections described by scientists to happen yet by 2030 or 2050

because these predictions are already happening now in the country. A common

observation is the increased frequency and strength of storms. Low pressure areas have

also been seen to originate from both eastern and western seas and have varying tracts.

Mindanao and Central Visayas were usually spared but now experience severe storms ,

heavy rainfall or extreme drought. Rainfall patterns have gone haywire and only

window periods remain for a successful crop farmers call “chamba”. Observed are also

very long periods of drought that dry up all sources of water .A zero to 50% of the

usual yield of palay , never before experienced happened in areas of Mindoro

( Mamburao, Abra de Ilog, Rizal and Sta.Cruz towns ), Central and Eastern Visayas ,

Central and Northern Luzon .8 9Bicol farmers also cited low quality palay of mostly

powdery and broken grains when milled. Some palay grains are empty, attributed to

4 Children’s Peace Camp CC orientation and art workshop report, Domingo, December 7,2019 and CC orientation@

Bakwit School report, Talens, October 8,2019

5Dumagat Day CC Orientation at Infanta Quezon report , Talens, October 26,2019

6 Proceedings of Kwentuhang Klima: A CCA Summit, CTHUR presentation, Arago, October 2018

7 CC Orientation at Taguig and Baseco reports, Mendoza, May 2019

8 Proceedings,Tigang na Lupa= Dalitang Buhay : Drought Research Conference in Mindoro, May29-31,2019

9 KMP Dispatch : land and Lives Cracked from Drought, June 2019

lack of irrigation. A cavan of palay produced only 18 kilos of rice.10Other crops also

suffered from drought—vegetables and corn did not thrive, fruits rot before ripening

and coconuts were infected with pests. Livestock animals like pigs gave birth

prematurely and the offsprings did not survive. Chickens lay fewer eggs while several of

these eggs are diseased. Hunger and lack of potable water also led to a higher

prevalence of malnutrition and diseases like kidney and urinary tract infections, peptic

ulcer, gastroenteritis and cardiovascular conditions because of the severe heat.11

In Eastern Visayas, three of the region’s top crops were infested with diseases ,

the extent of which are more widespread --abaca infested with bunchy top virus,

coconuts with cocolisap, and rice with the black bug, all observed since 2016. 12Floods

and typhoons aside from destroying crops also increase the incidence of plant pests like

army worms and rodents in Luzon and Mindanao.

The social effects of these extreme weather disturbances are as alarming.

Women peasants relayed how drought, debt and hunger caused anxiety, domestic

verbal and physical abuse, and antisocial behavior in their communities. Children are

being spanked and punished when they ask for more food. Child labor, prohibited drugs

peddling and prostitiution are resorted to. Schooling is disrupted and several children

prefer to work instead of continuing their studies.131415

Environmental impacts described by the farmers include : sea water

contamination of freshwater sources like deep wells which are dangerous to use for

irrigation, “movable rivers” mentioned by peasants in Mindanao to describe rivers

flowing through their fields and homes after soil erosion and landslides occur due to

heavy rains , lahar and mudflows burying and contaminating water sources in areas of

Central Luzon and Bicol .

Adding to peasant woes are the landgrabbing and land use conversion

happening under the guise of climate change mitigation through renewable energy.

Agriculturally productive land are being converted into solar farms and monocrop

plantations of jathropa and palm oil which are sources of biodiesel. When the Intended

Nationally Determined Contributions( INDC’s) to the Paris treaty are implemented by

2020, these renewable energy projects are expected to worsen the farmer’s poverty

10 Proceedings,Tigang na Lupa= Dalitang Buhay: Drought Research Conference in Bicol, June 5-7,2019

11 Medical mission reports,Mangyan day April 2018 and Dumagat day October 2019,Advocates for Community

Health files

12 KMP Dispatch: Lands and Lives Cracked from Drought ,June 2019

13 Community Led Disaster Preparedness and Resiliency project report, PNFSP and ACH, 2014-2016

14 Tigang na Lupa=Dalitang Buhay : Drought Research Project in Bicol, June 5-7,2019

15 Proceedings, Climate Change Resiliency Conference, MASIPAG-Mindanao, October 7 2018

and vulnerability to CC, worse than what they are experiencing now. Greening and

reforestation programs being implemented in the hinterlands are also driving away

indigenous people communities from their source of food, medicine and livelihood. 16

Fisherfolk

The PAMALAKAYA has noted dwindling catch within municipal waters for several

reasons, climate change being one. Ocean acidification has damaged corals and sea

grasses that contribute to biodiversity while mangroves are continually being destroyed

to give way to infrastructure like coastal highways and reclamation.17 Rising sea levels,

storm surges, floods and inundation of crops planted for food are the effects

experienced by fisherfolk and coastal dwellers. These effects have decreased their

productivity and incomes, resulted to forced evacuations, loss of homes and property

and caused physical and mental illnesses.18 Fisherfolk of Taliptip, a barangay in Obando,

Bulacan witnessed the disappearance of their salt farm and fishponds after typhoon

Pedring in 2011. Also inundated were a local church, a school building and barangay

roads leading to Malanday, Obando and Paco.19 Today, this community can only be

reached by boat and is now totally under water with homes found on a piece of

remaining wetland or perched on stilts over the sea . According to the PAMALAKAYA,

this occurrence has also been documented in other coastal communities affected by

storm surges.

Also observed are a decrease in seaweed harvests and the rising sea levels due

to tide take longer to subside. Longer periods of rain also prevent fisherfolk from going

out to sea resulting to lesser incomes. During the dry season, most of them spend days

at sea but the catch is still minimal due to warm ocean temperatures that drive fish to

deeper and cooler depths. With only small bancas and simple fishing gear, most small

fisherfolk are unable to explore these fishing grounds, now also monopolized by large

commercial fishing vessels.

Workers and Urban communities

Urban dwellers specifically the urban poor suffer from floods, storm surges, heat

waves and diseases that these disasters bring. These situations cause more joblessness

because of lessened opportunities to earn income as vendors, street peddlers and

16 Proceedings, Tigang na Lupa= Dalitang Buhay: Sigaw para sa Nararapat na Ayuda; A National Drought forum,June

13,2019

17 CC Orientation for PAMALAKAYA National Council,March 28,2019

18Proceedings, Kwentuhang Klima: A CCA Summit, October 2018

19 Taliptip CC workshop and risk assessment report, CCNCI, Pacampara et al, September 2018

drivers. Workers are also laid off due to absences and tardiness caused by weather

disturbances. Cases of factory and plantation closures after typhoons Sendong and

Pablo rendered thousands of farm and factory workers jobless. Rehiring after the

disasters did not include union leaders and members.20 Mining areas are hazard prone

and expose workers to dangers of landslides and mining accidents. 2018 was a year of

mining tragedies associated with heavy rainfall in areas of Viasayas, Bicol and Mindanao.

Prevalent diseases during extreme weather disturbances are leptospirosis,

vector borne diseases like dengue, gastroenteritis, heart disease, strokes, respiratory

infections and hypertension. Dengue cases reached more than 400,000 in 2019 alone

and has claimed 1,500 lives of mostly children of peasant and urban poor families in

Western Visayas, Southern Mindanao, Bicol, Cordillera and Southern Tagalog regions.

Disaster occurrences resulted to “no build zone” ordinances meant to protect the

public from hazardous areas . The overall effect though is the loss of livelihood and

homes for coastal dwellers and residents in landslide prone areas.

Women, Children and Indigenous People

Women bear the brunt of climate change having the responsibility to cook, feed

the children clean and fetch water. They are victims of verbal and physical abuses from

their husband because of economic difficulties. Extreme situations force them submit to

different degrees of slavery to earn money for survival like prostitution or heavy

manual work in households and establishments.21

Children on the other hand suffer from psychosocial and physical trauma from

disasters, orphaned, forced into child labor to earn money or food, deprived of

education , fall prey to human trafficking, cyberpornography and other abuses and

suffer from hunger and diseases.2223They are the most vulnerable to climate change .

Indigenous people say that they know nature best and are capable of survival in

their ancestral abodes where food, water and medicinal plants completely meet their

needs. However, false CC solutions like the national greening program, “ fake

reforestation projects” and biodiesel plantations are ruining all these. Mining and other

extractive industries and megadams also serve the interests of GHG’s polluters and are

threatening the resilience of the IP’s by driving them out of their domain.24

20 Proceedings, Kwentuhang Klima: A CCA Summit, CTHUR presentation, October 2018

21 Proceedings, Tigang na Lupa=Dalitang Buhay research conferences in Mindoro and Bicol,2019

22 CLDPR project reports,PNFSP and ACH, 2014-2016

22 Proceedings, Kwentuhang Klima: A CCA Summit, October 2018

24 Ibid, Indigenous People Presentation, Malayao,Piya

Policy Environment Including INDC’s

The Philippines enacted the Climate Change Act of 2009 to establish the Climate

Change Commission (CCC) which was amended in 2011 to create the People Survival

Fund (PSF) . The CCC drafted the National Framework Strategy on Climate Change

(NFSCC) 2010-2022 which was translated into the National Climate Change Action Plan

(NCCAP) 2011-2028.

The CCC is headed by the President of the Republic as Chairperson , three

appointed commissioners and an advisory board of cabinet secretaries and

representatives from NGO’s, academe and business. It is a lead policy-making body of

the government, which is tasked to coordinate, monitor and evaluate the programs and

action plans of the government in order to ensure the mainstreaming of climate change

into the national, sectoral and local development plans. Basically recommendatory, the

body has no mandate over other agencies and local governments with regards to

important CC actions like adaptation and mitigation. As representative in climate

negotiations, it has so far failed in asserting climate justice for the Philippines .It is also

silent on conflicting laws that aggravate CC and vulnerabilities to CC described below.

The National Climate Change Action Plan or NCCAP is summarized into 7

priorities and outcomes ; current realities prove otherwise : 25

1. Food Security - ensure availability, stability , accessibility, and affordability of safe

and healthy food amidst climate change.

> this is now moot because of the Rice Tariffication law ( and the imminent fish and

sugar liberalization laws ) where food supply is dependent on importation and the

local agricultural production will become a thing of the past

> agricultural land use conversion into tourism hubs, business establishments, airports

and infrastructure will endanger food security and aggravate CC effects in hazardous

areas

> Introduction of fake solutions to malnutrition and vitamin deficiency like the Golden

Rice which is genetically modified and harmful to human health .The grain is highly

chemical dependent and will only serve the interests of Agrochemical companies .26

2. Water Sufficiency - a comprehensive review and subsequent restructuring of the

entire water sector governance , an assessment of the resilience of major water

resources and infrastructures, manage supply and demand, manage water quality, and

promote conservation.

25 Compiled minutes of engagements with sectors and CCNCI

26 Proceedings ,forum Patayin ang Gutom: Defend Our right to Food, presentation titled Gintong Palay,Tansong

Pangako: Issues on Golden Rice, PNFSP, August 29,2019

> these outcomes are now un attainable because water is a big business of private

corporations who never promote conservation or espouse measures that will lessen

their profits like rain water harvesting, microhydro water projects and desalination 27

3. Environmental Stability - the protection and rehabilitation of critical ecosystems, and

the restoration of ecological services.

Clearly stated but grossly being violated shown in the following :

 Government presently allows mining to continue inspite of local ordinances to

ban such activities in these areas

 The NCWSP Kaliwa dam will inundate 28,ooo hectares of land and forest in the

Sierra Madre including 291 hectares of the environmentally critical area –Real-

Infanta-General Nakar Natural Park , Wildlife Sanctuary and Game Preserve and

the Kaliwa watershed28 and strangely the DENR has already issued an

Environmental Compliance Certificate

 Failure to sanction foreign vessels for the destruction of coral reefs, oil spills and

poaching of giant clams

4. Human security - reduce the risks of women and men to climate change and

disasters.

> Efforts are hardly felt to reduce the risks because many laws, policies, projects and

practices of government that expose people to more vulnerabilities. Mining and

extractive industries in ancestral domain of IP’s, corruption that deprives people of

needed protection from hazards, misuse of funds like calamity funds for election

campaigns, poor infrastructure planning that endangers the public from disasters are

consistently cited in forums and CC workshops.

5. Climate Smart Industries- the creation of green and eco-jobs and sustainable

consumption and production, development of sustainable cities and municipalities

> Non-existent in the countryside specially in disaster prone provinces where the

people just cope and rely on themselves to survive

> Agriculture remains chemical dependent and there is very little support for

sustainable practices like agroecology and organic farming

> Non-rehabilitation of communities after human and natural disasters to enable

recovery and development

27 Proceedings,Public Forum on Dams, AGHAM presentation “Water Crisis? Tubig sa Tubo Hindi Tubo sa Tubig”,

Hernandez, May 2019

28 Dumagat Sierra Madre-Timog Katagalugan statement,March14 2019

6. Sustainable energy - the development of sustainable and renewable energy;

environmentally sustainable transport; and climate-proofing and rehabilitation of energy

systems infrastructures.

> Coal and fossil fuels are still the main sources of energy while poorly planned

renewable energy projects are used as excuse for land grabbing and land use

conversion ( refer to narrative above on CC impacts ), are private ventures created for

profit and do not serve to relieve the people of the high cost of electricity and power.

7. Knowledge and capacity development :

Enhanced knowledge on the science of climate change; Enhanced capacity for climate

change adaptation, mitigation and disaster risk reduction at the local and community

level; and established gendered climate change knowledge management accessible to

all sectors at the national and local levels.

 With only 8 years to 2028, these information has not reached the majority of the

people nor has enabled communities to act systematically to CC with the proper

knowledge, technology and financing

The PSF is an annual P1 billion allocation for climate change adaptation projects.

Local governments must apply for this fund through a tedious process entailing several

requirements including clearances from the DENR and other agencies to prove that the

project indeed responds to climate change. We have yet to hear of a project funded by

the PSF that truly serves the vulnerable poor. This fund will soon be transferred to a

disaster department which will handle all climate funding once the law for its creation is

passed.

Local governments have exerted efforts in disaster response but disaster response is

not equivalent to climate change action. Apparently from all engagements in the past

three years of the CCNCI, government is not doing enough for CC. Laws and policies

like the CC Act and its NCCAP have good intentions and plans ( that remained ) on

paper but soon, these will all be for naught. The Department of Disaster Resiliency

( DDR ) Bill, a priority bill will abolish the CC Commission, take over the People’s

Survival Fund and lump climate change action into disaster response.29 This is a glaring

proof of government’s shortsighted analysis of CC and the doom it brings to the

Philippines. The “new” DDR is a rehashed version of the NDRRMC that dismally

performed during typhoon Haiyan , only more centralized and top heavy, powerful and

moneyed but with selective implementation on the ground.

The Philippines submitted Intended Nationally determined Contributions or INDC’s to

the UNFCCC on October 2015. The question is how these commitments can be fulfilled

without a government body specifically tasked for CC , the CCC facing abolition.

Moreover, the contributions mostly center on mitigation even if the country is least

29 DDR Bill, version of Bong Go

responsible for CC rather than adaptation which is direly needed by its people. It has

even boasted of a 70 % reduction in green house gas emissions for a country that only

contributes 0.3% to the total global emissions. This tantamounts to nothing in terms of

emission reduction and will only limit the country’s industrial development while still in

transition towards using renewable energy .

Protection and preservation of its remaining forests and natural resources should be

the country’s best contributions to mitigation. Polluter countries , mainly the US, the

European Union and China should be the ones tasked to reduce their emissions.

Furthermore, questionable are the profit making schemes that worsen the people’s

vulnerability to CC described above and included in the INDC’s. These are reforestation

( REDD+ or reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation ), climate

smart technology and renewable energy projects that violate human rights and

sustainable development. These will only expose the people to more exploitation and

poverty while polluters get away with emission credits.

Over and above, the best contribution to CC is an unrelenting fight for climate

justice. The Philippines must lead in this fight not only because it stands to lose its

motherland but because the worldwide poor has had enough.

Recommendations for Campaigns and Policy Advocacy

Climate change mitigation must focus on the preservation, protection and

rehabilitation of the environment. It also includes a well planned transition towards

renewable energy in the context of genuine agrarian reform and nationalist

industrialization.

Climate change adaptation and resiliency must be geared towards sustainable

development and financed through a climate fund—this must be asserted within and

outside the conference of parties and continuously appealed by government. However,

the government must allocate budgets for CC respponse now , even before any climate

fund is availed of from the polluter countries under common but differentiated

responsibilities and climate justice .

Both CC adaptation and mitigation can only be achieved if the Philippines asserts its

sovereignty and independence from profiteering foreign capitalists who plunder the

nation’s natural resources and denounce the local elite and state officials who thrive on

this.

Recommendations :

AS CHALLENGE TO CSO’S AND PO’S

1. Pool resources needed to deliver climate change education to the broadest sectors

with special focus on the most vulnerable and affected. Utilize all possible means to

popularize CC across cultures and languages by creating education materials that are

easily understood and remembered.

2. Strive for resource generation to be able to support CC adaptation measures for the

vulnerable communities. Resources include manpower ( scientists, technologists, health

practitioners, and other experts ), appropriate equipment and financing .Facilitate and

assist planning for CCAM among organized groups and communities and create pools of

CC educators among them to multiply efforts to other communities

> promote and support agroecology as a system in farming

> promote and support community based and managed health and disaster programs

> promote and support sound ”citizen science” and integrate these with knowledge of

the science community and academe

3. facilitate for the Incorporation of CC in the campaigns of the exploited and toiling

masses struggling for reforms and system change in their localities and at the national

level.

> support campaigns against projects, laws and policies that destroy the environment

like the Golden rice and GMO field testing, Mining Act, EPIRA law, NCWSP, charter

change and others and include CC as basis to repeal these laws

> support campaigns to pass laws like RIDA, GFARB and GARB and include CC as basis

to pass these laws and provisions for CC adaptation and mitigation

4. Organize a broad front of Filipinos demanding climate justice-stop emissions, stop

emission trading, compensate developing countries for damages wrought by CC, fund

climate action and pressure the Philippine government to carry this mission as a state

policy.

FOR POLICY REFORMS

1. Enact an amended DRRM law that strengthens capacities of local governments and

communities to respond to disasters comprehensively, using a rights based approach

and sustainable development as guiding principles; review the functions and powers of

the CC Commission , the NCCAP, PSF and INDC’s and amend these to address the

needs of CC vulnerable people.

2. Enact laws that will include CC education in all curricula for schools, offices, public

and private agencies and the local governments

3. Protect , preserve and rehabilitate the environment as a priority over any

development project , infrastructure, extractive industry or business endeavor. Local

ordinances must be respected with regards to preservation and conservation specially

on ancestral domain of the indigenous people.

4 Enact RIDA, GFARB and GARB that will support and develop agriculture for food

security and self sufficiency amid climate change. Incorporated in these laws are CC

adaptation and mitigation

5. Repeal Mining Act, the Rice Tariffication Law, the Agriculture and Fisheries

Modernization Act and other laws that violate people’s right to development, allow

destruction and plunder of natural resources and worsen the vulnerability of the poor

and marginalized.

6. Enact laws that will ensure that health and social services will reach the remotest

and disaster prone areas and make these well equipped, staffed and funded adequately.

All levels of health care from preventive to rehabilitative must be included in all CC

response machineries from national to local level.

7. Enforce first a moratorium on all development projects that entail destruction of

forests, watersheds, communities and farms. Conduct genuine consultations with the

people, scientists, climate experts to determine feasibilities, immediate and long term

socioeconomic, cultural effects and consequences of such interventions given the

climate emergency.

8. Establish a foreign policy that puts Filipinos first in the light of the present climate

crisis . This policy shall oppose all forms of foreign plunder and destruction of our

natural resources

> in climate talks, assert a stand on climate justice that includes reparation for the

Filipino victims of typhoons, drought and sea level rise, a climate fund different from

ODA to support CC adaptation and the protection of environment

> oppose false climate change solutions like REDD, chemical farming , and clean

development mechanisms that do not contribute to mitigation