Disaster Risk Reduction/Climate Change Adaption (DRR/CCA)

Efforts of the Church in the Philippines seen in the light of

Pope Francis’ Encyclical “Laudato Si”

Fr. Hernando M. CoronelDoctoral Program in Leadership Studies

Ateneo de Manila UniversityJune 30, 2015

A Filipino perspective on the most recent encyclical of Pope Francis, “Laudato Si”. The efforts of the Catholic Church in the Philippines concerning its responses and interventions to recent natural hazards.

A. Mainly, i. the efforts of the Redemptorist community to Typhoon Yolandaii. the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro to Typhoon Sendong iii. the Social Action Commission–Diocese of Legazpi to the Mayon

eruptions and other calamities are studiediv. Msgr. Clem Ignacio, director of the Lord of the Black Nazarene

Foundation Inc. (LBNFI), and Quiapo Church

B. In a lesser degree, i. the efforts of the Archdiocese of San Fernando to the Pinatubo

eruptionii. Camillians concerning the Bohol earthquakeiii. the Vincentians regarding the Payatas tragedy iv. the Prelature of Infanta to the mudslides are also considered.

Redemptorist community to Typhoon Yolanda

Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro to Typhoon Sendong

cssr.org.au

furdiesterne.blogspot.com

Diocese of Legazpi to the Mayon eruptions

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Lord of the Black Nazarene Foundation and Quiapo Church

AN ENCYCLICAL ON STEWARDING CREATION

•Pope Francis had quoted the Pastoral letter of the Philippine bishops, “What is Happening to our Beautiful land?” (29 January 1988) in his 2013 Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium.” It is a “touching and prophetic lament.”

•Once more, the Philippine bishops are quoted in this recent 2015 encyclical on the environment. “Who turned the wonderworld of the seas into underwater cemeteries bereft of color and life?” (Laudato Si, 41).

• The encyclical letter began with the canticle of Saint Francis of Assisi in which all creation become one family in praising God.

•It was a presentation of the current situation on pollution, climate change, biodiversity and access to water

•There was a call for a new lifestyle for humanity based on ecological conversion.

• Archbishop Socrates Villegas, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines. “But the Pope’s letter will remain nothing more than ink on paper until we all allow ourselves to be won over by St. Francis exaltation of all of created reality.”

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Archbishop of Manila, proposed to pay close attention to six aspects of the encyclical:

1) a restoration of a contemplative view of creation

2) the importance of the belief in the Creator

3) the rediscovery of the role of human beings as stewards and not as pseudo-owners of the earth

4) the plan of God that the goods of the earth be shared by all

5) the vital connection between the environment and human life

6) a courageous review of political and economic policies , business practices, mindsets and lifestyles towards the changes needed to care for our common home, to uplift the poor and to give glory and praise to the Creator.

The Second Plenary Council of the Philippines (1991):

“A true and just development must fundamentally be concerned with a passionate care of our earth and our environment. Fishing, mining and logging contribute enormously to the national coffers but when done with inadequate safeguards for ecological integrity, moral issues are involved. Our natural resources are not to be irreparable and irreversible.” (section 321).

The pope discussed climate as a common good.

“The climate is a common good, belonging to all and a meant for all. At the global level, it is a complex system linked to many of the essential conditions for human life. In recent decades, this warming (of the climate) has been accompanied in a constant rise in the sea level and it would appear by an increase in extreme weather events, even if a scientifically determinable cause cannot be assigned to each particular phenomena.”

(Laudato Si, 23)

Climate change was directly addressed by the pope.

“Climate change is a global problem with grave implications: environmental, social, economic, political and for the distribution of goods. It represents one of the principal challenges facing humanity in our day.”

The technical term of disaster risk reduction/climate change adaptation was implicitly referred to in the context of poverty.

“[The poor] have no other financial activities or resources which can enable them to adopt to climate change or to face natural disasters and their access to social services is very limited.”

(Laudato Si, 25).

Most noteworthy was the Pastoral Exhortation on Climate Change. “All Creation … Bless the Lord” by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines issued October 4, 2014.”

The Philippine bishops used the technical term: Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation (DRR/CCA) and their interrelatedness. “Finally, even as we do our best as individuals and communities to curb climate change, we must realize it is already upon us, in government and civic circles, the prevailing paradigm is one of Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Rick Reduction and Management” (CCA-DRRM).

With climate change, our risk to disasters increases as the probability of extreme events increases. As Filipino Catholics, we ask ourselves, how do we help build this inherent awareness of our risk to disasters and the impacts of climate change?”

www.nps.gov

www.epa.gov

CLIMATE CHANGE ADVOCACY IN ACTION IN THE PHILIPPINES

There are concrete steps of the church in the Philippines in climate change advocacy beyond documents and pronouncements.

i. The Archdiocese of Manila has an annual celebration of the Season of Creation.

ii. During the Lenten Season, the Manila Archdiocese organized a Walk for Climate Change.

iii. The Ministry of Ecology of the Archdiocese of Manila is a member of the Global Catholic Climate Movement.

CLIMATE CHANGE ADVOCACY IN ACTION IN THE PHILIPPINES

iv. The Climate Change Congress of the Philippines (CCCP) is led by Archbishop Antonio J. Ledesma, S.J. of Cagayan de Oro.

v. Father Edwin Gariguez, executive secretary of the social action arm of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines participated in the “Peoples’ Climate March” in New York City last September 21, 2014.

A CHURCH EFFORT AT CCA/DRR SPECIAL OR DIFFERENT FROM OTHERS

i. The government is a huge bureaucracy with much red tape. When emergencies arise, there are cases of corruption and politicking.

ii. Business has corporate social responsibility. Despite its claim for people and planet, it cannot be denied that profits are the primary goal.

iii. Non-governmental organizations operate on standards for performance and delivery. There is a minimum level of service given a beneficiary.

iv. The church, given its dioceses, social action arms and religious congregations, is more varied. The aim is total human development with an accent towards the spiritual salvation of the human person. The impetus is charity and the ultimate accountability is to God who has a heart for the poor and needy.

THE CONGREGATION OF THE MOST HOLY REDEEMER (CSsR)

The unique gift of Redemptorists is mission to a local community. A mission is a team that includes volunteers, lay people, religious coordinated by a Redemptorist that goes to a local community for a specified period for the purpose of a spiritual mission. It is a concerted effort to bring people to a greater awareness of God’s presence in their lives.

Karl M. Gaspar, CSsR had written a book documenting the Redemptorist response to typhoon Yolanda. The book was titled “Desperately Seeking God’s Saving Action” and subtitled “Yolanda Survivors’ Hope Beyond Heartbreaking Lamentations.”

SOCIAL ACTION CENTER – DIOCESE OF LEGAZPI

The goal of this social action arm is the building of resilient communities. This center is also the development, humanitarian, and advocacy arm of the Diocese of Legaspi.

The mission is: “We are committed to social transformation through empowered leaders and sustainable communities living out the Gospel narratives.”

www.saclegazpi.org

The DRR program of SAC-Legazpi had the following accomplishments:

• Organizational Development

• Capability Building

• 15 coastal barangays attended and drew their risk maps and identified households or population at risk for certain hazards with the technical support from APSEMO.

• Purchased 150 life jackets, 150 flashlights and batteries, 15 megaphone, and 60 whistles that was distributed to partner coastal communities.

• Establishment of Early Warning System through installation of Rain Gauge Instruments in 12 Disaster Prone Areas, Flood Markers, and Use of indigenous local warning system.

ARCHDIOCESE OF CAGAYAN DE ORO

Archbishop Antonio J. Ledesma, SJ urged for “Relief, Rehabilitation and Renewal” in the aftermath of the super typhoon and called for the “Building of Communities of Hope.”

The archbishop was key in rallying the people to rise from tragedy and enable people to help those devastated by calamity.

The Church’s intervention was in terms of relief operations, housing, medical missions, pastoral activities, livelihood assistance and parish-based programs as the diocese acknowledged its eighty years of existence on the year that disaster struck.

http://www.thinkphilippines.com/

LAMDAG Publication, Sendong: Recovering from Tragedy

The leadership of Archbishop Ledesma was seen in the meeting held in his residence to bring various groups together, local and national government, NGO’s, international agencies.

He and the DSWD Regional Director were co-chairs. Archbishop Ledesma also was instrumental in the formation of the Climate Change Congress of the Philippines.

QUIAPO CHURCH AND THELORD OF THE BLACK NAZARENE FOUNDATION INC.

Quiapo Church, after the experiences of Typhoons Ondoy, Pepeng and Sendong, and experiences with other manmade/natural calamities such as: earthquakes, fire, landslides caused by forest denudation, mining, logging or simply lack of care, etc., realized that there is a lack of facility to gather speedy information that will ensure an efficient disaster response.

The Church set up a disaster management ministry to provide the systems and technology available to understand the vulnerabilities in various dioceses in the Philippines and gather speedy information during disasters using satellite images and other data already available.

www.quiapochurch.com

Quiapo Church is at the forefront of helping parishioners during this calamities. It also helped out many communities throughout the Philippines affected by major flooding and other disasters.

Based on the ministry's stated goals, the Ministry wants to position itself as a resource center for training and research and as a communications center to share rapid assessment of disaster needs and impact.

The Church’s Disaster Preparedness and Response Ministry has allied itself with key government agencies and collaborated with environmental advocacy groups. 

The LBNFI is a non-stock, non-profit foundation that aims to build the local, spiritual, financial and social capital necessary to provide sustainable development for various problems. Calamity Assistance is one of their areas for funding.

OTHER CHURCH INSTITUTIONS

The Archdiocese of San Fernando recalled the great destruction wrought by the eruption of Mount Pinatubo more than two decades ago. Bishop Roberto Mallari, auxiliary bishop, remembered: “Because so many calamities were happening everyday and in different places, the Archdiocesan Social Action Center was divided into groups composed of priests and lay people…

“We went all over Pampanga asking for donations even if the donors themselves were victims, because we wanted to show other dioceses that we Kapampangans were helping each other first before asking for other peoples’ help. We also asked each parish to adopt a barangay that had been affected by lahar. Our clergy responded enthusiastically.” (Tantingco: 2011, 265).

The Camillians responded in the aftermath off the earthquake that struck 8:12am on October 15, 2013 with an epicenter two kilometers southeast of Carmen, Bohol (09.80°N, 124.20°E).

The Camillian Task Force (CTF) responded to the needs of those affected on the far flung areas.

Father Norberto Carcellar is a priest belonging to the Congregation of the Mission (CM), also known as the Vincentians. He was instrumental in 1998 in forming the Homeless Peoples’ Federation Philippines, Inc. (HPFPI) and in 2002 in organizing the Philippine Action for Community-led Shelter Initiatives, Inc. (PACSII). He was once the Director of Vincentian Missionaries Social Development Foundation.

The support program of HPFPI-PCSII “developed in response to six major disasters and includes community – rooted data gathering (assessing the severity and scope of destruction and victims immediate needs); trust and contact-building; support for savings; the registering of community organizations and in identifying needed interventions, including building materials, loans for house repairs.

It also includes negotiating for land transit housing and land acquisition for permanent housing construction.” (Carcellar, et al, 2011, 365).

Father Francis B. Lucas of the Prelature of Infanta is the President of Infanta Integrated Community Development Assistance, Inc. (ICDAI). This is a community-based NGO serving Infanta.

The accomplishments of ICDAI with regards to the calamity were:

1) Damage and needs assessment

2) Organizing of Volunteers

3) Identification of beneficiaries

4) Installing systems for effective distribution

5) Establishment of monitoring system including documents and training of staff

6) Planning the distribution

7) Purchase of food and non-food items

The accomplishments of ICDAI with regards to the calamity were:

8. Transport to emergency areas

9. Distribution of relief packs

10.DRR/CCA Efforts of the Church in the Philippines| 21 Clearing of roads, pathways, irrigation, canals, schools and home environment

11.Cutting/ sawing of woods to be used as post/support to construct emergency shelter

12.Further Needs analysis to identify unseen needs.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

Pope Francis advocated and ecological conversion. This was not simply a metanoia with an environmental flavor. Ecological conversion meant an alternative lifestyle oriented towards stewardship.

The pope viewed stewardship of the planet in terms of change of heart and of justice. The long-term perspective had to be factored in an ecological spirituality.

A leadership of stewardship has vision to see things through and to be thorough.

Leadership also needs to strengthen the relation of disaster risk reduction to climate change adaptation.

THANK YOU

Prepared by: Yvonne Desiree P. Scheewe