The resiliency of the Filipino people is truly amazing and humbling: “Roofless, homeless but not hopeless. After Haiyan, we have seen how our little boys become men overnight. We see pictures of men playing basketball in the midst of debris. We are a people with a good of sense of humor, and we are using it to cope, knowing that there is nothing laughable about this ordeal. Our women, most especially, have shown strength in character, and selflessness. In all these, we are each other’s source of strength. That makes me proud to be a Filipino. The world probably knows of Haiyan but many probably do not know that those weeks before Haiyan, we had to deal with an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2. Weeks before the earthquake, we had to deal with another typhoon locally known as Vinta (Krosa). We only average 19 to 20 typhoons in a year, but Haiyan was already the 24th. Haiyan was followed 5 days by another typhoon locally known as Zoraida. And according to our experts, we are expecting at least 2 more before the year ends. We are running out of alphabets to name our typhoons. The Philippines may have fallen victim this early, but we will all eventually become victims of climate change. We do not wish to happen to anyone what happened in our country, but these can happen to you too. And hopefully these events, not only in the Philippines but in other countries as well, will serve as strong reminder that the time to act has long started. We can no longer afford any delay. This is not for us only. This is for our youth, the current generation, and the future.” (excerpt from the speech of Secretary Lucille Sering, head of the Philippine delegation to the United Nations Climate Change Conference, November 2013)
Posted on: Sat, 23 Nov 2013 05:27:56 +0000
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