Reihana Mohideen, Manila

Thousands of people in the Philippines have been victimis of typhoons that ravaged several provinces in the first week of December. The typhoons swept through Bulakan, Nueva Ecija, Cagayan, Rizal, Quezon, and other areas resulting in killer floods and landslides. More than 600 rural poor have died; thousands have been injured and lost their homes. Many are experiencing hunger and other diseases.

The socialist labour centre Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino has called on all its unions to donate food and clothing and is carrying out relief work in the devastated areas. The BMP factories have organised a fundraising effort, getting donations from workers for these relief operations. Individual factories are also conducting relief operations in their areas.

The main reason for the large-scale calamity is the unfettered logging of forests resulting in deforestation. The government has blamed illegal loggers, but all logging activities, including “legal” logging by big local and foreign companies, are responsible for this devastation. The government ordered the suspension of logging on December 4. A few days later President Arroyo backtracked and suspended logging only in public forest lands, thus sparing the big private logging companies.

From Green Left Weekly, December 15, 2004.
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