While thousands of families were already being buried alive by rising floodwaters and landslides, deaths that were entirely preventable had adequate infrastructure and disaster-preparation been in place, the President was elsewhere. In the midst of a typhoon brewing, he was off in South Korea, too busy hawking the Philippines to global investors at the Asia‑Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.
In the Visayas, especially in provinces like Cebu, the worst casualties came from flash floods due to failed protection systems. The President’s own media statement admitted: “the dikes and protections put in place did not really withstand the weight, the volume of water that came.”
More than 400 projects worth around P26.6 billion which nevertheless failed to protect communities from the intense flooding caused by Typhoon Tino. Among the contractors responsible for these projects is the Quirante Construction Corporation, whose owner reportedly donated P1 million to Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s campaign; the contractor’s contracts grew from P2 billion in 2022 to P3 billion in 2023.
updates from the peasant movement of the Philippines 