VICTIMS of the 2013 Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in Tacloban City held another round of “storytelling” through the fourth edition of “LIVErary” on August 28 to 29.
“'LIVErary volume 4 People vs Big Polluters' gathered storytellers coming from different walks of life. We highlighted stories about how climate change affects our community's livelihood, children's rights and human rights in general, and how it breeds disaster capitalism,” said Joanna Sustento, Yolanda survivor and one of the organizers of the event.
“We also heard stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things as they pursue local initiatives, and even take our voices to the global stage. We also witnessed how Arthur Golong, a transgender community leader in northern Tacloban, speaks on behalf of Yolanda survivors and other impacted communities,” she told SunStar Philippines in an interview.
The two-day event brought together students, lawmakers, the academe, advocates, and even the youngest audience as they recall the experiences and lessons brought by the storm that leveled the city five years ago and killed over 5,000 people.
“In the last two days, our ‘Living Books and Readers’ laughed, cried, even got frustrated at the same things, but they nurtured each other through stories. We hope this reminds everyone that personal stories told in a safe space like the ‘LIVErary,’ can break barriers and create collaborations,” Sustento added.
Sustento, who lost most of her family members to Yolanda, said the event coincided with the public hearings triggered by a groundbreaking climate change and human rights petition filed in 2015 at the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines.
The third public hearing on August 29 in Manila was represented by Golong. It was streamed live during the LIVErary session and was followed by a panel discussion assisted by Tacloban-based filmmaker Panx Solajes and artist Jerx Aliposa.
The panelists include Tacloban City Vice Mayor Sambo Yaokasin, Palo Vice Mayor Ronnan Reposar, Filipino artist and environment activist AG Saño, and Sustento, who joined Greenpeace in 2017 to confront the Norwegian government and a giant oil company Statoil in the Arctic Ocean for its oil drilling activities which, according to the global environmental group, have contributed to the climate crisis.
In a separate interview with SunStar Philippines, Saño said “the success of the Human Rights Petition that we filed versus the big polluters lies not only on the testimonies within the halls of CHR but also on the sustained campaign outside, with the communities and advocacy circles around the country.”
“'LIVErary' is one important undertaking that helps sustain the conversations and the exchange of ideas on the ground,” he added.
Meanwhile, in Manila, leading global climate science, legal, research and policy experts Richard Heede, Geoffrey Supran, Carroll Muffett, Sophie Marjanac and Glenn Hodes appeared as witnesses for petitioners during Wednesday’s third hearing sessions of the investigation on the responsibility of 47 fossil fuel companies for the global climate crisis that impact on rights of Filipino citizens.
“In just two hours, Yolanda wiped away whole communities and everything we worked hard for. I was devastated by the friends I lost, but for those who survived, our fighting spirit lives on,” said Golong.
“The Philippines experiences up to 20 typhoons a year and climate change is throwing more anger into the eye of the storm. At some point, there needs to be accountability and global change, for the sake of small cities like Tacloban and everywhere else around the world,” he added in a statement.
According to Desiree Llanos Dee, a campaigner from Greenpeace Southeast Asia-Philippines, the investigation in Manila “can shift global understanding of corporate responsibility for climate change by bringing attention to the role of fossil fuel companies in creating the climate crisis.” (SunStar Philippines)