Mudslide in Guinsaugon, Leyte, Philippines

Alertnet: Hundreds feared dead in Philippine mudslide

First of all, I'd like to thank everyone who had expressed concern on whether I have friends/family affected in the disaster area. Thankfully, there are none. I live on the southern part of Mindanao island in the Philippines and Leyte island is located somewhere in the middle. (map image below)

As of writing, the government, Red Cross and Caritas are all swift to the response. Bay Area Filipinos are coming together to gather help and relief.

This is truly saddening. While it may seem that it is a natural disaster (a combination of the La Nina spell that resulted in torrential rains there and warm weather last week in this side of the Pacific, and a small quake), it is man-made as it has been a result of decades of deforestation in the island. There was a bigger one in 1991 that killed more than 5,000.

Mountainous parts of the Philippines are impoverished areas with no strong industry to speak of. Logging and mining has been declared illegal in these parts but they still continue with protected interests. Despite the series of devastating landslides that happen almost anually in the Philippines, those responsible for illegal logging practices, some seated in positions of power, continue to be free.

I don't know if this recent one will change the way things are, but there was a major landslide that happened in 2004, in Quezon at the eastern side of Luzon, and nobody was prosecuted. The government just went on with its media blast blaming it on faceless illegal loggers and others.

(What is even sadder right now is that the government has, as early as now, started blaming the residents and victims for ignoring "pleas" to evacuate the disaster prone area. Investigative journalists still have to check on how these evacuation messages were delivered.)

For the area hit in 2004, government records do not show any operating logging companies as these have been declared as watersheds, but anyone who drives by the area can see a lot of sawmills nearby, and trucks bearing logs running with you in the highways.

Everyone in these towns know that some of them are owned by people in very high places, but no one is talking. I had an acquaintance who was doing an ecological documentary for a post-grad thesis, and while she got government clearance, she received anonymous threats and had no choice but to discontinue. This was before the 2004 disaster. In these poor areas, there is no strong private sector to serve as a balancing force to government. They're virtual "autonomous" regions where those in power can do whatever they want as long as nothing reaches the media. (And my guess is that they make sure nothing does.)

In times like these, the executive government just responds in the short term through disaster efforts, and delegates any investigation to other offices. There will, of course, be a lot of blamethrowing, but the noise eventually dies down. Little is usually heard after that.

I will be coordinating with the Filipino community on campus and Bay Area Filipinos on any action, and will be updating here.

(Image courtesy of Wikipedia)