Immediate Relief for people affected by Typhoon Odette

We at Anakbayan Toronto, are reaching out to our allies to donate to our families and communities that have been heavily impacted by Typhoon Odette last week and spread awareness about the disaster. On Thursday, December 16, Typhoon Odette made its first landfall in Siargao Island, where it continued to make its way throughout the Visayas and Mindanao region; totalling 9 landfalls in the following areas:

• Siargao Island, Surigao del Norte;
• Cagdianao, Dinagat Islands;
• Liloan, Southern Leyte;
• Padre Burgos, Southern Leyte;
• President Carlos P. Garcia, Bohol;
• Bien Unido, Bohol;
• Carcar, Cebu;
• La Libertad, Negros Oriental;
• Roxas, Palawan

To this day, there is minimal report on the current conditions of the people on the ground due to communication and electricity damages. However, what is known is that countless people have lost their homes and sources of livelihood, which impacts the farmers and fisherfolk the most. In order to “centralize” relief efforts, mutual aid has been bottlenecked due to the military and government efforts.

On top of this, the Duterte administration claims that there is not much funding left when in reality, millions of pesos (number) have been administered to militarized projects like the NTF-ELCAC instead of helping the people.

The Bayanihan (collective) spirit is strong in these communities but, why are our communities left to organize immediate relief efforts themselves? As Anakbayan we call to unite with our allies; Filipinos and non-Filipinos to help provide immediate relief amidst this disaster. We also amplify the calls to hold the government accountable for their lack of urgency and urge them to provide immediate aid and sensible rebuilding efforts.

To the Filipino people, Typhoon season is an everyday reality that’s been normalized. Year after year, similar calamities are experienced by the Filipino people and this should not be the case. These environmental events are not isolated events, but are living consequences of imperialism and global capitalism that continues to destroy the environment with its mining practices and monocultural agricultural industries that only benefit foreign interests that strip the Philippines and our people access from our resources.

DEFUND NTF-ELCAC! REALLOCATE FUNDING TOWARDS DISASTER RELIEF!

OUST THE US-DUTERTE REGIME!

FIGHT FOR GENUINE DEMOCRACY AND NATIONAL FREEDOM IN THE PHILIPPINES!

#defundntfelcac #reallocatefundingtowardsdisasterrelief #ousttheusduterteregime #fightforgenuinedemocracyandnationalfreedominthephilippines