The People Surge, an alliance of disaster survivors, strongly condemned the Marcos regime for its failure to protect vulnerable communities during storms and rains brought about by the shear line. It also denounced the regime for prioritizing destructive mining projects and operations, quarrying and land use conversion that aggravate damages caused by floods and rain. It demanded justice and compensation for disaster survivors and a stop to the said destructive operations.

Since January, prolonged and heavy rains brought by the shear line flooded and submerged entire barangays in Samar, Davao, Camarines, Cagayan and other provinces. The shear line is the collision of winds with different speeds, directions and temperatures that results in increased rainfall.

Recently, rains submerged barangays in the Calabarzon, Western Visayas and Central Visayas regions devastating 850,000 individuals. There were reports of severe flooding in Puerto Princesa City and other towns in Palawan, where five were killed.

The government’s ₱65 million distributed aid has been woefully inadequate in comparison to the scale of devastation. This pittance cannot rebuild homes, restore lost crops, or heal the trauma inflicted on our communities.

The alliance calls for a comprehensive disaster preparedness plan to prioritize the most vulnerable areas and livelihood programs in affected communities. Local and national officials who failed to protect their constituents must be held accountable, as their negligence intensifies the severity of disasters.