Media reports on week of disasters and climate issues

FLOODS, LANDSLIDES, a forest fire, drought – news this month presented a rather frightful state of the country.

The climate crisis affects the Philippines quite severely given its location on the western rim of the Pacific Ocean. The country’s ranking among the worst affected by extreme weather conditions has been directly experienced by Filipinos. Media included this necessary context in the continuous reporting of various disaster episodes last week.

From February 6 to 13, CMFR found the following notable reports, providing usual information and relating it to the climate crisis.

February 6: Landslide in Barangay Masara in Maco, Davao de Oro

The landslide in Barangay Masara in Maco, Davao de Oro left 85 people dead and 38 missing. About 30 meters of land, estimated to that of a five-story building, buried a bus terminal for a mining firm and 55 nearby houses in the said barangay.

• The Philippine Star in its editorial said that “the vulnerability of the area to landslides had been pointed out nearly two decades ago. Deforestation has long turned many mountainous areas across the country into danger zones. The risk is highest in areas with mining operations.” It added that Masara is not the only barangay with areas classified as no-build zones and “it is not the only village where such classifications have been ignored.” ABS-CBN’s Patrol ng Pilipino also pointed out that the area had long been declared as a ‘no build zone’ after a landslide in 2008 in the same area.

• Inquirer in its editorial said that “instead of taking our leaders to account for their shortsightedness and lack of planning, the blame is passed on instead to extreme weather volatility and the lack of infrastructure, manpower, and technology to address climate change—the same old excuses in the old normal.”

• MindaNews cited a Lumad group, Sabokahan To Mo Lumad Kamalitanan (Sabokahan Unity of Lumad Women), that questioned why mining operations continued amid continuous rains and flooding in the area. Sabokahan cited a 2020 study published in the International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) that “about 50% of human activities that cause landslides are mining activities and that these geo-hazards are experienced as the cause of open pit, underground and quarrying systems of mining.”

The same news outlet also featured the story of Nenita Raganet, a homemaker, who lost 13 of her family members in the landslide. The story highlighted the scope of the calamity that the community suffered. Apart from the shock and grief, other things such as documents, transportation, and food expenses, among others are things to worry about for the coming days.

February 7: Forest fire in Benguet, Cordillera region

While forest fires in the Cordillera region have been reported by news outlets as separate episodes, Inquirer presented the larger picture, emphasizing the ravaging effect of the fires since January 2024, which lately engulfed other parts of Benguet province. The print news outlet looked back at the fires in Itogon, Bokod, and Atok in Benguet and in the Mountain Province. It further explained that in recent years, “forest fires broke out in different parts of the region due to kaingin or slash-and-burn farming and clearing operations, worsened by the dry spell experienced in these areas between January and April.”

End of January to April 2024: El Niño until April

TV was most consistent in its coverage of the El Niño phenomenon which the Pagasa said will continue until April 2024. In the week’s coverage, GMA-7’s 24 Oras reported on the fish cages going dry as water receded dramaticallyin Bangui, Ilocos Norte. ABS-CBN’s TV Patrol interviewed farmers who expressed anxiety about their palay harvest and were considering shifting to other crops in June. TV5’s Frontline Pilipinas went national by listing the overall cost of damage of El Niño in various provinces.

Rappler pointed out the irony of the Philippines as one of the biggest importers of rice, given how the crop dominates the country’s agriculture. It cited data as evidence and interviewed farmer groups who said that  sustained support for agriculture and a focus on small-scale farmers is needed to reach self-sufficiency. The report also included the views of agriculture experts who urged the government to attract the business community to invest in the modernization of the industry.

Other issues

Meanwhile, scant attention was given by the media to the following issues:

• On February 8, Philstar.com reported on potential violations of its own rules by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation regarding a fossil gas facility in Batangas that pose possible harm to the Verde Island Passage.

• On February 8, Rappler reported that jeepneys can go fully electric amid the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program. The news outlet cited a long-time local jeepney manufacturer, Francisco Motors, that proposed an electric jeep that would cost less, specifically PHP 985,000, than the average PHP 2 million cost of modern jeepneys.

• On February 13, Inquirer and Philstar.com both reported the complaint filed by the Environmental Defenders Congress, a group of 37 organizations working to protect the environment and human rights. The group said that a military unit and Sonshine Media Network International endangered their lives by red-tagging them in a Facebook post and talk show. (See link: “NET25 and SMNI propaganda provokes questions on their role in spreading disinformation”)

Continuing coverage needed

Most recently, on February 14, drilling operations in the Masungi Georeserve were uncovered, raising concerns for local wildlife and limestone formations in the conservation area. On February 28, 2023, a sunken ship caused a massive oil spill in Oriental Mindoro. It has taken almost an entire year for the Justice Department to push to file criminal charges against owners and officers of the ship.

In February 2023, CMFR recorded and mapped the media coverage of the environment, revealing a number of issues and perspectives in the news. (See link: “Media on Environment: Clash between defenders of environment and drivers of development trigger spike in coverage”) The record above and that of last year’s showed the breadth and complexity of the subject. Newsrooms must improve their capacity to keep up with the challenges raised by these issues. The country needs to be ready to safeguard and protect its environmental resources. The task calls for many. The framework of sustainability calls for collective responsibility, one that must be shared by the entire society as it weighs more heavily through time.