FORT MAGSAYSAY,
Nueva Ecija – The chief of the Army’s 7th Infantry (Kaugnay)
Division (7th ID) based in this camp yesterday called on the
National Democratic Front (NDF), the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP)
and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA) to forge a bilateral ceasefire
with government forces in known disaster-prone areas all over the country.
Brig. Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr, 7th
ID commanding general said the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the
NDF-CPP-NPA are waging a struggle against a common enemy of the state which is
climate change.
“We are now fighting a new war that is
climate change. The challenge is for our counterparts from the NDF-CPP-NPA to
agree to a ceasefire in disaster-prone
areas all over the country and to help build disaster-proof facilities such as school
buildings that can be converted into evacuation centers during calamities,”
Catapang said.
“Why
do we only declare a ceasefire after a disaster has happened when there is
already loss of lives. Let us declare it now,” he said.
Catapang said the gravity of the
damage wrought by typhoon Pablo in Mindanao where over 1,000 died, 800 still
missing and P24 billion was lost calls for concerted action. “It is high time
to roll up our sleeves and instead of
engaging in
warfare against fellow Filipinos, we must unite and help rebuild the affected
communities,” he said.
Catapang
said the 7th ID has fully committed itself to helping those affected
by deploying soldiers in the affected areas.
He said the division, which holds
jurisdiction over Army units in 13 provinces in Central Luzon and Northern
Luzon cancelled most of its Christmas Celebration activities and the money that
was intended for these was instead donated to calamity victims.
Each
one of the 7th ID’s soldiers also pledged to donate at least one
canned good.
Catapang
said the division also held fund-raising events such as the commander’s cup, battle
of the bands among others, proceeds of which will be forwarded to the affected
communities.
A
collection booth will be set-up by the 7th ID at NE Pacific Mall in Cabanatuan City for those who want to donate
relief goods to the calamity victims. These
donations and relief goods will be transported to Villamor Air Base via
military truck and delivered to Davao via a cargo plane and received by one of
its brigades based in Davao Oriental on December 28.
Catapang’s call on the NDF-CPP-NPA was
prompted by a study conducted by the Center for Research on the Epidemiology of
Disasters (CRED) International
Disaster Data Base from 1905-2003
which indicated that typhoons and storms account for the highest percentage of
deaths (66%) of the nine listed form of natural and man-made disasters such as
earthquake, volcanic eruptions, flood, landslide, infectious diseases, tidal
waves, drought, fire and pest infestation.
Based on records, from January to
December of 2011, of the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council
(NDRRMC), 19 tropical cyclones entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility,
10 of which were destructive among them Bebeng
(May 8-11), Chedeng (May 20-28), Falcon (June 21-25), Juaning (July 25-28),
Kabayan (July 28-Aug 5), Mina (Aug 21-29), Pedring (Sept 24-28), Quiel (Sept
29-Oct 2), Ramon (Oct 10-14), and Sendong (Dec 15-18).
Affected by these cyclones were
Regions 1, 2I, 3II, 4-A, 4-B, 5 to 13, the Cordillera Administrative Region and the National
Capital Region which left 1,541 dead, affected 2,062,647 families (9,867,622
persons), totally damaged 38,088 houses, and P26,502,337,198.73 trillion worth
of properties.
Catapang said based on these, it is
evident that the threat posed by these natural calamities further enhanced by
climate change and global warming generates more casualties than any other
threats like crimes and insurgency.
He said the AFP is seeing the death of
insurgency and the ushering in of development in Regions 1 and 3.
“Ultimately, we will be fighting a different war, a war on Climate Change,” he said. (Manny Galvez)
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