Navotas fisherfolk ravaged by Typhoon Uwan held a protest on November 12. They called for immediate aid and assistance for the rehabilitation of their damaged houses, boats and properties.

Floodwaters reached chest level in many city barangays. The entire city lost power at midnight on November 9.

According to Pamalakaya, Typhoon Uwan inundiated the homes of 12,000 fisherfolks and forced 6,000 to evacuate. Even the Pamalakaya-Navotas office was flooded and damaged.

“Fisherfolk suffered hunger and loss of livelihoods amid the storm’s onslaught,” stated the group.

They condemned the Navotas local government for its poor preparation for Typhoon Uwan. The fisherfolk ridiculed city workers for blocking the “entry of water” with plywood along the coast.

These officials also reinforced the dike in Barangay San Jose with additional sandbags as a “temporary shield against the water.” This dike was damaged at the height of the storm, causing a rapid rise in floodwaters.

Fisherfolk also called for an immediate stop to reclamation projects in Manila Bay, which further threaten their lives and livelihoods. These include the San Miguel Corporation’s 650-hectare Navotas Coastal Bay Reclamation Project.

“The storm’s already strong effects was worsened by reclamation,” the group said. “In addition to environmental destruction, the plunder by corrupt politicians and government agencies in the national treasury in the form of corruption in flood control accelerates the destruction.”

Aside from Navotas, the storm also ravaged fisherfolk in Cavite in the towns of Tanza (8,000), Rosario (5,000), and Bacoor (3,000).