Philippines: Justice for victims of mining and flood control disasters

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

The entire membership of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) extends deepest sympathies to the hundreds of thousands of victims of massive flashfloods and landslides triggered by torrential rains brought by typhoon Tino in areas devastated by mining and failed flood control projects in scores of towns across islands in the Visayas, especially in Cebu, as well as in Negros island, Panay and Palawan, and in the northern provinces of Mindanao.

More than 110 people died and around 130 remain missing, even as homes and property were destroyed and swept away. Majority of the victims come from working class communities, pushing them on the brink of an ever greater disaster of worse poverty and suffering.

The Party joins the Filipino people in demanding justice for the victims of the recent disasters, even as it commends various cause-oriented agencies and people’s organizations, including forces of the National Democratic Front (NDF), for linking arms to organize and mobilize all possible resources to extend assistance to the survivors.

In the wake of the massive devastation, the Filipino people are indignant over the grossly anemic response of the Marcos regime. Aside from a few meals worth of “food packs,” there is practically no government as victims are left on their own to fend for themselves, recover from the disaster, and rebuild their lives. It is just for them to denounce and protest the insufficient and inefficient actions of the Marcos government.

More importantly, the Filipino people must express their outrage and protest against the Marcos regime for conniving with the profit-hungry big comprador owners of mining and quarrying operations, and benefiting from several billions of pesos worth of anomalous flood control projects.

This is especially stark in Cebu, which next to Bulacan, is the province with the most number of corruption-ridden flood control projects, since 2017. One of the biggest contractors in Cebu, the Quirante family, is known for having contributed millions to the Marcos-Duterte election campaign in 2022.

The flood control disasters show clearly how corruption kills and devastate lives. The protests over the past few months must continue to surge forward to demand justice, and call for an end to bureaucratic capitalism and the oppressive semicolonial and semifeudal system.

#International #Philippines #CPP