In light of the widespread calamities brought about by Typhoon Paeng as well as previous typhoons, there is urgent need for radical measures to put a stop to continuing environmental destruction and plunder.

Ferdinand Marcos Jr takes the people for fools in claiming “tree planting” as solution to widespread flooding even as he continues to push for large-scale mining operations, expansion of plantations, construction of dams and other grandiose infrastructure projects that cut down trees in the thousands, destroy mangrove forests and poison the rivers and the environment.

Under the Marcos policy of “opening the country’s doors wide open” to invite big foreign capitalists, the Filipino people are bound to suffer even worse calamitous events in the coming months and years. Marcos and his minions are set to pocket billions of pesos in these operations. “Disaster preparedness” and “disaster response” rings hollow in the face of Marcos’ programs that continue to invite disaster.

Under Marcos, big mining companies have began to mobilize their equipment across the country from Nueva Vizcaya to Quezon, Mindoro to Palawan, Negros to Samar, the Surigao and Agusan provinces to Maguindanao, South Cotabato and other provinces. Banana and oil palm plantations are scraping the mountains to expand their operations in the Davao provinces and the Caraga region. Reclamation projects in Metro Manila and other places are destroying natural barriers making coastal areas prone to storm surges.

Even the counterinsurgency drive of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) contribute to environmental destruction with the use of jet fighters, helicopters and drones, and relentless aerial and artillery bombing of forests, fields and communities.

The entry and expansion of these plunderous large capitalist companies are accompanied by the intensification of state terrorism and attacks against civilian communities. Marcos’ armed agents unleash fascist brutality against the peasant masses and minority people to break their resistance and defense of the environment and their livelihood. Thousands of barangays are militarized and hamletted and declared “insurgency-free” to the delight of foreign plunderers and their cohorts.

Now, more than ever, the Filipino people and their revolutionary forces must take radical action in order to help save the country from further disasters brought about by environmental plunder and worsening climate change.

The broad masses of the Filipino people must unite and heighten their resistance to destructive large-scale mining operations, expansion of plantations, land reclamations, dams and other infrastructure projects. The broadest possible united front of all classes and sectors must be built and make a stand to stop the economic aggression and environmental destruction of these corporations. They must courageously fight the acts of state terrorism perpetrated by the military and police to serve the interests of foreign big capitalists.

As the army of the people, the New People’s Army must continue to carry out the policy of the people’s democratic government prohibiting the operations of large-scale mining companies and plantations. There is rising urgency for the NPA to carry out the necessary revolutionary action to stop the plunderers from causing further harm to the environment and to the people’s livelihood.