No Climate Justice Under Marcos-Duterte!

As the son of the dictator gets inaugurated today, we must brace ourselves for what will come. These past few days, we have seen how activists, environmental organizations, and media networks are being silenced and censored. These clearly indicate that our freedom to express our concerns regarding the ongoing climate crisis will be seen as a threat to the agenda of those in power, who would much rather place their profit and personal interest first over the well-being of people and planet.

The Philippines, being one of the most vulnerable countries to the impacts of climate change, needs a leader who shows up and gets the work done. These past few years, our fellow Filipinos have suffered a lot due to the super-typhoons that have devastated our communities; many have lost their homes, livelihoods, and even family members. Other impacts of climate change such as droughts and aberrant weather patterns have also negatively impacted Filipinos. The responses of the Duterte administration to these disasters, such as displacing people from their ancestral lands and pouring concrete over living nature, have never been pro-climate and pro-people. Someone as out of touch as Bongbong Marcos, who has said he plans to continue what Duterte has started, will only do the same or even worse.

Throughout their electoral campaign, the Marcos-Duterte tandem showed no concrete concern for addressing the climate crisis. Instead, what they focused on was undermining the integrity of the elections, winning people over through disinformation, and projecting illusions of progress on a supposed “golden age” of the past. From this, we can definitely see where their priority lies: in their abuse of their political power for their personal gain.

We youth climate advocates categorically reject Marcos Jr. and Duterte. Instead of developing our country and living up to their slogan “Bagong Pilipinas, Bagong Mukha,” it seems that we are returning to a horrible past, possibly even worse than before. But we will not back down. We will continue to rally with our fellow activists and environmental defenders as we continue the struggle for genuine climate justice!

#MarcosItakwil
#RejectMarcosDuterte
#ClimateJusticeNow